Mom and Dad are here for Spring Break

It's been a long winter, because we haven't been able to see mom and dad since Christmas, but now we are lucky enough to have them stay for several days. Zach is off this week from school, so they are helping us out by watching Zach for the first three days of the week. Thanks mom and dad!

Quote

"You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it." ~~~ The late Dr. Adrian Rogers, 1931 to 2005.

Almost done

The finishing touches will be added tomorrow to our basement. The top picture is the door to go outside, but you can see the tile and the color of the carpet in this picture. We picked a darker color for carpet and to have the tile there so when our kids (and neighbor kids) come in from the sandbox, the swing set or playing I may not be as uptight as I am with a light colored carpet in the rest of the house.

In the next picture, if you look to the right you will see some simple built in shelves, the door to the storage area and to the 1/2 bathroom. I can hardly wait to get stuff moved down there.

The Glass Castle

Last night, we had book club and we discussed the book, "The Glass Castle" by Jeanetter Wells. Overall, I enjoyed reading the book and it made me feel grateful for such a normal childhood. This book is the actual memoir of the author and it took place in the US. I know I have lived a shelter life, but to read what actual can take place in some one's life is truly remarkable.

This and that about Zach

Last weekend, we had some friends stay with us for the weekend. Their son, Brevin and Zach had a great time playing the Wii together.

They had fun playing baseball. I am big advocate for the wii. I just love that it gets the kids (and me) moving. In the winter, I find it hard sometimes helping them release their energy, but the wii helps.

This past week, we had parent teacher conferences. They have it set up so the student goes with you and they read to you and write a sentence for you and the teacher goes over their progress. I have so much admiration for teachers and feel like Zach has a really awesome one. Zach continues to loose a few "behavior crayons" a week for various things, but mostly talking when he is not suppose to. However, his teacher never mentioned that (until I brought it up), she just focused on his positives.

Zach loves playing his Nintendo DS. It was money well spent at Christmas. At times, we have to ask him to take a break from it, otherwise we may never see the whites of his eyes. Cale enjoys watching him (notice the cold hot dog in his hand). Zach also continues to use the head set that was prescribed to him this past summer for his sensory integration dysfunction. We attempt to have him listen to it twice a day, with breaks on the weekend. We can notice when he hasn't been wearing it, I am not sure how it works, but Eric and I are believers. I am not sure if I have written about this remarkable device, but somewhat briefly we have special CD's that he listens to that are suppose to help reorganize his brain electrical pattern. There is no actual scientific proof, because no one is willing to have their child's head cut into, but the testimonies (including ours) seem to be proof enough. When you listen to the CD, it's classical music but they have rhythmic sounds behind the music - to me it sounds like sharpening knives. They use these head sets for kids with what Zach has along with ADHD, bed wetting, poor sleep habits, autism and many other things.

A winter Saturday morning, (note: clothing is still optional for Cale), Cale playing his Leapster (handed down from Zach) and Zach playing his Nintendo DS. Do you think there will be any exercise or conversation today? Yes, eventually they both will put down their games, run around the house and give their mom some much needed hugs, because her boys are growing up too fast.

This and that about Cale

Cale loves his big brother. He would love to play more with his brother or receive more attention from him, hopefully in time, Zach will have more interest for his little brother. I see glimpses of them enjoy playing and having fun together.

Recently Cale has begun mastering the computer mouse and is enjoying playing games on the computer. I am sure other kids his age are on the computer, but I am in amazement because I can still remember my FIRST exposure to the computer was in the 6th grade.

Cale's 3 favorite foods. Chocolate dip granola bar, cold hot dog and chocolate pop tart with the edges peeled away. He will eat other foods with coaxing, however, if we let him, he would eat these three things morning, noon and night. I have many areas as mother that I don't excel in, but on the top of the list is the nutritional habits of my children. I was (and still am,but not quite as much) a very picky eater and it's a battle most days I choose not to engage in. But, there are days when guilt sets in and I fear I am setting them up for heart failure or diabetes I make them eat the things they should eat or at least try.

This is the face we see when something doesn't go his way or he hears the word no. Most of the time his head is also hanging down and we will hear shortly, "don't be made at me"

Cale is our resident comedian. In his world, clothing is optionally and it is rare to see his socks on. So far, he hasn't undressed in public, however, if you spend any time at our house, he's not afraid to take his clothes off while others are here. The things he says and does make us laugh all the time.

Here we go Steelers!

We are almost ready to go a Super bowl party to cheer on the Steelers!

Here we go Steelers, Here we go Steelers, Here we go!

In 2006, Eric and I took a vacation to Pittsburgh and watched the opening game of the season after they won their previous Superbowl. Can they do it again?

(please ignore the fact that my eyes look like they were about to pop out of my head, I was just excited :) )