Ten Things Tuesday....

Here is a new meme I ran across that talks about ten things your thankful for and I love that idea. :) Oh and on a side note before I start the meme check out this article I was in! http://edition.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/personal/08/11/stay.at.home.moms.economy.ap/index.html?iref=24hours


Anyway...Here goes:

1. I am thankful for the chance to be in an article about stay at home moms to show that it is possible in this declining economy to still stay at home and be happy.

2. I am thankful for my husband and wonderful children

3. I am thankful for friends and family who are always supportive

4. I am thankful that God blessed me with a child with special needs which has led me to a new career from home, and also with the chance to remember what is really important in life.

5. I am thankful for chocolate

6. I am thankful for my son's service dog who now allows hubby and I to be able to have some peace of mind and sleep. ;)

7. I am thankful for the great weather we have been having

8. I am thankful for these hard economic times to remind us what is really important in life

9. I am thankful for mindless entertainment like reality tv lol. ok you know you watch it too.

10.I am thankful that my family and I are all healthy.

ok well that is it for my first ten things tuesday..how did I do?

the cheerio queen

Happy Birthday Lucky charms!

Ok so this is a bit late as LC's actual birthday was a week ago but I was waiting till his party to post about it so I could post pictures. :)

Lucky Charm's is my "baby" it is easy to think of him that way despite the fact that he turned 6 on me. You see his is short, he has alwasy been our "little man" but I have always said that what he lacks in height he more then makes up for in personality! This sweet little man is tough, but very sensitive. He loves his mommy and daddy cuddles still and for that I am grateful. :) He is incredibly smart, funny, charming,and a joy to be around. You have to remember this is the same boy who made his own business at age 4 selling golfballs back to the golfers on our golf course. Last year he made a total of 176.00 in one summer. This summer he has made well over 200. I have always admired his persistance, and focus, and drive. When he wants something he does not give up until he gets it or at least exhausts all possiblilites of getting it, hence the 1969 chevelle he has been pushing for. Hey the kid has taste. :) Being that his Grandpa owns one I am not surprised.

We have always been a bit worried though...you see he is an amazing little flirt and can charm just about anyone. The other day I was fighting the urge to want to smack this little girl who was all of about 6 or 7 herself as i noticed she took a shine to Lucky charms at the park and followed him everywhere! Someone should really tell her mom that she needs to practice the art of playing hard to get with her daughter instead of chasing a boy. seriously. lol I am sure he will have lots of girlfriends. He usually prefers older girls however. He has a crush on a 16 year old at our church it is so cute he is just sure he is going to marry her. Hey the girl is beautiful so at least he has taste. His father and I about died the other day when he asked me to "make his hair handsome" so that "the ladies would like it" yes he actually used the term "the ladies" at six.

oh well the joy of raising him is totally worth it. We are never bored. He is the most amazing little guy a mom could want. Both hubby and I have had a lot of fun with him! We look forward to many more years of joey.
Happy Birthday Little Man!

For you Jessica! lol....

Or really anyone who reads my blog. :) I have a friend named Jessica who goes to my church, actually she is the reason I checked out my current church. She is our worship leader and has the most beautiful voice. I have known her since highschool and she was an amazing singer then. I always thought she would be a pop star. lol. Instead she is a devoted wife, mommy, and child of God. She also gets everyone she knows addicted to blogging and she got me to start a blog. However she also was the one recently who noticed I have not been blogging much at all lately and she mentioned it at church or rather scolded me..."ya know Jen it has been FOREVER since you updated your blog" lol just kidding jess. :) So for Jess I am updating. :)

So this summer has been one of relaxing and fun for a change. Usually I have extra daycare kids in the summer and never go anywhere and I am so busy. However this year with me closing the daycare and going down to just one family with one little girl my schedule has been a lot lighter, once we finished up the extra schoolwork we needed to get caught up. We started k12.com late this year so the kids did not finish at the same time the school year ended. However after some extra work we have spent much of the summer at the park, library, doing crafts at the house, etc. We also took a 3 day trip to Seaside which is a new favorite for us! We will definitely go back, we stayed at a hotel right on the beach and even though the weather was not warm yet the kids still could not resist getting their feet wet in the ocean, and we did lots of swimming in the swimming pool at the hotel. This was also the kids first time in a jacuzzi they loved the "warm bubbly bath" boy did they sleep great that night! Joey still has his therapies during the summer for occupation and speech but otherwise it has been low key. I have to be honest not felt like blogging much. But never fear the new school year is almost here and I am sure I will have more stuff to blog about.

So far this summer the only big news is that Lucky Charms moved to the "big kids" class at church, he is going into the first grade which makes me sad because he is my "baby" he is so short that it is easy to think of him as younger then he is. He will be 6 on Saturday :( He is very excited though.

Trix luckily has had his seizures minimize quite a bit. He is not having them near as much as he used too. Last year was a tough year with him and all the seizures and the sensory issues etc. After a lot of research and scheduling and rescheduling , praying etc. we have a new schedule set up for him this year for school etc. He is entering a year of intense occupational and speech therapy that will hopefully help him make some big progress and get up to or close to where he should be. He is still far behind where he needs to be but I have faith that he is going to be fine and can recover from his delays but it will take work...lots of work.

Honey Nut has been just a sweetheart this year. She recently went to summer camp for church and really had a good time. We sure missed her though. She graduated from brownie to junior in girlscouts this last spring which means that she now wears a green uniform instead of a brown one. Good thing these girls had outgrown their brownie vests. These girls have been together since they were in kindergarten and now they are going into the 4th grade.

I figured out the school year for this coming season. The Honey Nut and lucky Charms will be doing k12 again in the morning for the basic subjects...math, reading, writing, language arts etc. and Trix will be attending school in the morning hours only for half a day 4 days a week. He needs the 5th day for his outside therapies (meaning therapies not at school) then in the afternoon after lunch and during quiet time we will be doing a unit study to cover geography, history, art, science and even PE for all three kids. The unit we chose this year was one I made up on my own because I like to combine different activity ideas. We will be studying the 50 states this year. The kids will learn all the capitols, learn the state bird or flower, learn how to find it on a map, the history of the state, cook a native recipe from the state etc. The great thing about unit studies is I can offer activites for each of the kids learning level. It will be a busy year but hey I like to keep busy otherwise I get into trouble. :)

well this is turning into a novel but here is my update for the past little bit. I will not say when I will blog again because everytime I do then it becomes months before I blog again so maybe if I don't say anything then I will blog more? who knows. in the mean time here is a couple pics of the kids having fun this summer. :)

Till next time,
The Cheerio Queen





the kids at seaside.

lucky charms

Trix

Honey Nut

the view from our window

Been awhile I know...

So it has been forever since I posted but I have been so busy and just kind of fell off the blogger trail. I am slowly coming back but dont' want to promise anything because I always make grand plans and then life takes me other routes lol. Here is a meme that I think is supposed to be done on Mondays but I am doing mine today to get started back into blogging. ;)

Outside My Window ...It is raining and grey ( I thought this was supposed to be June)
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I am thinking ... about making blueberry muffins and fruit for breakfast.
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I am thankful for ... my family and the Seaside getaway we had this last weekend (I will post about it later)
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From the kitchen ... some new gluten free recipes in the crockpot I found.
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I am wearing ... Jeans, a pastel pink hooded sweatshirt, and a pony tail.
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I am creating ... another journal...I have one for everything it seems like.
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I am going ... to go pick up a food dehyrdator today to make homemade fruit rollups.
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I am reading ... Louder than Words by Jenny McCarthy...what a great book whether or not your child is autistic (mine is not)it is more a story about a mothers incredible love for her child. (boy is her son lucky)
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I am hoping ... for some sun, or at least for it to dry up enough today for Honey Nuts bridging ceremony tonight to be held at the park.
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I am hearing ... the pitter patter of rain, the daycare kids laughing at wow wow wubbzy, and the sweet sound of my daughter coming downstairs just now and saying "hi mommy"
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Around the house ... I am trying to finish up the school year, researching how to get my son into a great program I found to help him with his sensory issues and how to afford it, and I am doing laundry catchup.
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One of my favorite things ... is reading and taking notes from what I learned in books, and planning for a new school year.
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A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: ... last brownie meeting of the year for Honey nut, searching for a cubscout troop for the boys, searching for swimming lessons as well, try and get my house in order, and doing some cooking and baking ahead (since the weather is yucky anyway) to freeze for hoepfully a warm summer ahead. lol
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Here is a picture thought I am sharing ...
My heart :)


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I hope you all have a wonderful day!

finally updated...

Honey nut with her American Girl Doll...Julie Albright

Ok so I was going to blog several times this week because I had a bunch of topics in mind, but then lots wound up happening this week and well...it is now Friday and I am doing an "update" post lol.

First I must say last weekend was GORGEOUS here! It was close to 80 on Saturday which is very warm for our neck of the woods this time of year, and to ring that comment true, the weather forecastesr are predicting SNOW tomorrow, also unusual for this time of year. Weird. In any case, while Cheerio Dad worked out in the yard getting it ready for the summer, I spring cleaned the whole upstairs of the house because Friday I did downstairs. I smelled a lot of bbq's that afternoon...weanies...my husband bbq's year round here. lol I have seen that man out there in snow buttoned up in a jacket where you could only see his eyeballs grilling a steak. Once from Texas always from Texas I guess.

So I had plans to blog Monday but got busy wtih some appts. Then Tuesday I had a grand plan to do a post entirely dedicated to my daughter Honey Nut since she turned 9! However Cheerio Dad came home with the flu (the cold flu that is)shaking and with a fever. Our plans to go out to the birthday dinner was switched to chinese takeout instead. Hubs felt so bad his tradition is to take the kids out and let them pick out their special bday present, although this year Honey Nut really wanted an American Girl Doll so we ordered it online since we do not live near an American Girl Store. Bless her heart...she is NINE wow! She is my first baby and my only girl and what a girly girl she is! She is still in love with horses...I am just sure in a prior life she was a horse. She is going to have a tea party for her birthday this year and that is ok with me because it means she is still very much my "little girl" even though she wants desperately to be a teenager. For some reason she has it stuck in her pretty little head that being a teenager entitles her to have all adult priveldges...not sure where that idea came from. Poor misguided little thang. ha. But nevertheless she is our baby girl and always will be. I remember bringing her home from the hospital and the length of her head down to her foot entirely fit in my forearm. Now she is dangerously close to my height although she has a few more inches to go but not long! Happy birthday baby girl!

Wednesday Cheerio Dad was still sick and so he was home from work all day. We did a bunch of schoolwork. and Trix had speech therapy.

Thursday Cheerio dad was STILL sick and getting whinier by the minute. I had closed down the daycare for the day as I had a dentist appt to get a cavity filled which turned into a root canal...lucky me. Then I came back let the babysitter go home, and then went fed the kids lunch, and went to the school to have a meeting with a team of specialist who were trying to determine if Trix really needed the full evaluation done on him again as it has only been 2 years. They fully intended to talk me out of it I think but I got them to do all of it. He does have two really good therapists. It is just that because he is homeschooled and oh I am only his mom does the school decide they need a meeting with me to decide IF he needs testing. grrr. what do I know? Then I came home and discovered that when Lucky Charms had hurt his foot earlier in the day it was still swelling so I got to take him and the other two kids to urgent care for xray's again ...lucky me. And truly if you know Lucky Charms you would know that it is only by the grace of God almighty himself that the boy is not in a full body cast yet. This is a kid with NO fear at all. Luckily it is a combo of a bruised bone in his foot and also a sprain, so while he is hopping around the house on one foot, he did not break it so no cast...this time.

I was so tired after all that stuff yesterday that I did not blog, and frankly I was so tired I couldn't sleep so I finally got to sleep around a quarter to 12. For mommies that is like staying up all night. Then at 3am today I was woken to a loud beeping sound it startled me. You see I have been camping out on the couch downstairs because unlike hubs I don't have the luxury of being able to lay around for 4 days with the flu, so I am trying to avoid it like the plague, he is of course being a big baby about it. "you don't love me..I am dying...I see the light" I suppose it was not nice that after finding out the beeping was him beeping the radio on my cell phone to get me to come up to bring him medicine and listen to him whine, I simply said "fine go towards the light I can use the insurance". remember it was THREE in the morning ...whatever don't judge me.

As for today hubs is STILL sick and is running a high fever. I really do feel bad for the poor guy. He has not been to work since Tuesday and he NEVER misses work. I am doing laundry to try and give him some fresh clean sheets to hopefully make his comfort level better. No he is not sick like that at least it is not a stomach bug, but he does have a pounding headache and high fever and body aches. And frankly I did feel a little guilty for being so short with him this morning at dark thirty but nevertheless I have been checking on him with cold washcloths, and water, and anything he wants to eat. AT least he is eating. All that said, my weekend should be fun. lol But at least now you know why I have not blogged this week, hopefully next week will be better.

till next time,
The Cheerio Queen

Because i cannot think of anything better to blog about...

I am going to steal the same idea that my blogging friend "I should be doing laundry" had today and blog about the "New Kids on the Block" Ok so I used to own one of their pillows...whatever don't judge me. I still think their music was good and they were cute. I used to call myself their "biggest fan" until the first season of Dancing with the stars came up and Joey McIntyre was on it and I realized I had forgotten all about them. I had a huge crush on Joey when I was younger. The fact that they are all men now I think all of them or most all of them are married and have kids does make me feel old. You see a lot of the youngsters out there think that the Backstreet Boys and N'sync were the beginning of the boy bands. Not so. The New Kids on the Block paved the way (ok so there was a few others before their time too but I don't want to age myself too much) Either way...will I be going to one of their concerts? Probably not, but you can bet I will be listening to their new CD. I still think they are cute! Although, Jordan I thought was a little sleazy on the Surreal Life (hey I had the flu the day they had a surreal life marathon and there was nothing on so I watched) but I digress...They at the time were a fun concert.I must admit with all the hype in the news lately I have had the songs Step by Step and Hangin Tough running in my head all day. Maybe if I download those and workout to those my daughter won't go into the witness protection program like she attempted to do when I worked out to "sexyback" by Justin Timberlake. In any case if you look at the above pictures you will see why so many of us original NKOTB fans feel so old. Just look at the difference! At least they all still look like boys..I'm just sayin.
Have a great weekend!

The Cheerio Queen

Miss Bimbo??....Man the internet is scary,

Ok I just have to post about it. I was reading the news today and came across a disturbing article regarding a new "virtual fashion game" called "Miss Bimbo" In this game girls are encouraged to become the "most famous or coolest bimbo they know" The site is aimed directly at girls ages 7-17! They can even give their virtual bimbo's breast implants and diet pills. GRRR Sorry this really ticks me off. Not surprising the creator is a 23 year old male who probably does not have kids. According to the statistics over 1 million girls between the ages of 7-17 access this site. How sad is that? The internet is such a scary place. It used to be cool. I mean I am somewhat of an internet nerd. Meaning I access it for schoolwork for the kids (k12.com) and I use it for email, I blog obviously, and I even have a myspace. (although I am considering deleting that too because there is so many sick people on there)
What scares me is the fact that my 8 year old could easily type in the word "barbie" in google to find a barbie doll game site to play, but it will pull up all sorts of trashy sites with pictures. It is way to easy for kids to accidentally access sites that they should not see, even with these so called "net nanny services". My daughter recently was playing a littlest petshop game and managed to wind up clicking on pop ups and came to toysrus and was "shopping" online by telling me everything she wanted. My husband and I are very careful about watching the kids on the computer and making sure we monitor what they are playing or looking at, but geez. she already knows about myspace and is begging us for her own myspace page. Hubs and I absolutely are not going to ever let that happen, too many scary people, perverts, not to mention the cyber bullying that is now going on those pages. For instance I saw a story yesterday of a boy who has been picked on so much that his family is suing one of the bullies for making up a fake myspace page titled everyone hates "childs name" .
I think I am going to go back to the dinosaur age and just put only games on that are on cd and only after hubs and I have previewed it of course. They wonder why we have so many insecure kids these days. How sad.

ok I am done with my rant for the day lol. I must go now and make the kids a hot breakfast, (I will explain in another post later how I am on a strike from buying cereal around here lol) It snowed last night! Gee I was wondering when it was going to snow I mean it is afterall MARCH. The kids are really looking forward to playing outside in it but I insisted they eat breakfast first lol. Later on in the day we are going to be delivering Meals on Wheels which the kids are looking forward to. :)
Hope you all have a good day!
The Cheerio Queen