Report Card

Emilia got all A's on her academic grades, but has a C in conduct. We have made a deal with her that if she can get an A on Conduct at the next 9 week report that she could get a Nintendo DS. Hopefully this will encourage her to do better.
Nicholas got A's and B's and is doing much better. He now has tutoring twice a week to help give him a boost. Margaret says that homework with him is now a fifteen minute deal instead of the hour it was taking. He is able to concentrate so much better now.

ADHD

Last year Emilia was having a really hard time in Kindergarden. We ended up taking her to a local dr to be evaluated. She was diagnosed with ADHD and Oppositional Defiance Disorder (That can also be found at the link above). I know that alot of times that children are misdiagnosed with these issue, but for her I know it was true. After talking to her ped. we put her on Daytrona it is a patch that worked quite well for her for the rest of the school year.

This year she seems to have a wide variance in her behavior. She can have a great day with no cards pulled and the very next pull 5 because of misbehavior. She has only pulled more than 3 cards one day this year, but her behavior is so unpredictable it has caused concern at home. I just had a parent-teacher conference and was told that Emilia had been overheard saying that she had pulled her patch off. The teacher checked over the course of the day and she did have it on, but it leads to the question of if she has been doing that. Since she takes it off herself, I haven't been tracking whether or not she had been keeping it on. We are going to her ped at the end of Nov. and will be discussing other medications with him. Nicholas was just diagnosed ADD and is on Vyvanse and it seems to be working well. I really like that they have different dose sizes. She has gotten old enough that I think she will do well with a pill, and we can be confidant that her day is with the medication instead of hoping.

Garbage Compacter vs China

Steve and I had been talking about getting a rotisserie for the house for a while. And although at this point I am confused as to who wanted it first, I had thought it would make a great Christmas gift for Steve. He can be so hard to buy for and this seemed like a great gift for him.

Well this last weekend we were at Sam's Club and Steve started talking about what amount we were going to spend on each other. He is a very thoughtful and generous man most of the time, but he he blew it with one statement "I was thinking of getting you new pots and pans"

Now to some people this might seem a little two faced that I can get him a kitchen appliance and not the reverse.....but the difference is that I have not mentioned once that I wanted new pans recently and I have dropped hints to him about things that I do want.

Him however, everytime I ask, cannot come up with one thing that he is interested in for Christmas. I don't want to give him Book Gift Cards....because we have enough books around the house. Most likely he will end up with a Lowe's gift certificate if he doesn't provide me with something else.

It reminds me of a story that was told to me about my Grandparents and Christmastime gifts. It seems one year that my Grandfather went out and bought my Grandma a garbage compacter for Christmas, so she returned the thoughtful gesture by buying him a set of China. You go girl!!

Change on the Side

So....I am currently looking ways to earn extra money that does not entail a 9-5 job. Ideas are Pampered Chef, tupperware, Newspaper route. Each have pros and cons attached to them. The one I am exploring the most is the Tupperware, it is a name brand product that most people know. I don't know if I could wake up early to do a Newspaper route. I am hoping to bloom this into something I could eventually use to replace my current job so I could be at home.
The ideal situation would be for me to get a position on night side here at the paper, but that could be a while....which is at least something to look forward to, I guess. I signed up for some kind of online survey which was recommended throught a blog that I read, but it just wanted me to sign up for more offers and led me through a maze to nothingness. Yikes!!!
I know some women/men out there have profitable at home positions...so I am not giving up yet.
Let me know if anyone has any ideas!

LDS Missionaries

The Missionaries stopped by last night to introduce the New guy. They had stopped by last week so the one leaving could say goodbye. It is too funny because both times they came right after we had sat down for dinner. They felt so bad, but I don't mind. It is nice to see them. We talked a little about the biggest question I am facing right now.....The god head. Three in one or three separate beings. Being raised Mormon I had always been taught and believed that they were three separate beings. However, the church that Steve and I have been attending lately (non-denominational conteporary christian) believes that they are the Trinity or three in one. The Missionaries pointed out some scriptures in the Bible and also lead me to a Oct Conference talk by Bro. Holland on this subject. I am hoping to download the talk so I can listen to it over and over and contemplate this issue. I don't know if I am leaning towards three separate beings because I was raised this way or because I actually believe it.
I am wanting to delve deeper into my thoughts and feelings. I have never had a close relationship with the Lord, but I know I want one. I feel so lost at times in my own desire for a spiritual connection. Well....wish me luck. I will keep ya'll posted.

The TWO BROWNIE rule

So we have rules for when Emilia misbehaves and pulls cards at school....(see previous blot) but I realized that we needed an immediate reward for when she pulled no cards at all. While we were in the grocery store I let her pick out a Nestle "break and bake". She actually picked the brownies instead of cookies. It has Halloween sprinkles on it which she just loves. She knows that when she pulls no cards that she gets to bake up two brownies. Monday she pulled cards. Tuesday she pulled no cards and was so excited to bake up her brownies. I am hoping that this will help her to not pull cards...we will see and keep you posted.

Cryin' over Poptarts

This morning started out well enough. Woke my daughter up Emilia and got a cute sleepy "good morning" in return. I told her that if she wanted help getting dressed that she needed to go pick out a outfit right away.....she just laid there. After repeated warnings that I was leaving....I left to take my shower. Meanwhile Steve tried getting her going. When I got out of the shower she was still in bed ignoring him. I told him to just leave the room and told her that she had lost her privilege for a morning cartoon. I told her to get dressed if she wanted to eat the oatmeal that Steve was making. About 15 minutes later I hear this miserable crying coming from the living room. I poked my head out the bedroom door and asked Emilia what was wrong. "Daddy says it's too late that I can't have Oatmeal, that I have to have a poptart" (with a disgusted voice) I told her next time to get up so she can have oatmeal.

I just love the fact that she would rather have oatmeal than a poptart. I know that wouldn't have been the case when I was a child. Hopefully morning routines will get better. We shall see.

Blogging

I just love blogging. Love reading it... love writing it...Love the comments. However, sometimes it seems that I have a block....so many ideas and to actually write them down is intimidating. I am getting to know my ablilities in here. Hence the picture.....I have a friend that does the coolest stuff on her blogspot. (I am jelous) I am hoping to get recent pictures uploaded here soon, but my camera is still in Ohio. We left it at Steve's brother's house. Hopefully we will get it back soon. I am getting camera crazy and just might go out and buy a new one if I don't get mine back soon. I have missed so many pic opportunities.

Bible Study

I am doing a new Women's Bible Study called "Breaking Free; Making Liberty in Christ a Reality in Life" I have to say I am really into this study. I am learning a lot and remembering more often to pray. I think that is my biggest hurdle to cross is regular prayer and scripture reading. I know that my mom several times tried to get us to gather as a family for prayers and scriptures. I hope that I can get this going in our little family. Emilia has a kid's bible that she loves to read out of. I want to encourage that as much as possible.

All at Once

Why is it that you can have several days...weeks even when you have nothing to do, but then Everything is scheduled on One Day?? This Saturday in town we have:

1. Nicholas's Soccer Game
2. Emilia's School Fair
3. Nicholas's School Fair
4. The Greek Festival
5. The Latin/Hispanic Festival
6. The Renasiance Festival
7. And Nic has a B-day party invitaion.
8. Steve has a Men's Breakfast to go to.

Can anyone say Yikes! Let's see....how to pack it all in on one day.

7:00 Steve leaves for Men's Breakfast
7:30 Wake up Kids
9:00 Leave for Soccer Game meet Steve
11:00 Leave Soccer to go to Emilia's School
12:30 Leave Emilia's School to go to Nich's School
2:00 Go to Renasiance Festival
5:00 Go to Latin Festival.

Will have to skip the Bday party....Oh and one more thing the Greek Festival is also going on this weekend....So Steve is going to have to get his gyro either tonight or tomorrow Night. Afterwards I think I am going to bed early to recover. I hope the kids will be worn out by the end of the day. Maybe Sunday we will all relax and play games together.

Hiking at Conagree National Park

I joined the local Hiking group and went with them to Conagree National Park last Saturday. I was so excited....got new shoes, a new waistpack to carry water and snacks and off I went. The path started out with a high boardwalk leading to the dirt trail. Well it was wet and covered with leaves.....so needless to say I found a way to slip and take a pretty hard fall. To my credit I shook it off and kept going. There were several other times when I tried to slip...mostly on the various wooden bridges. Emilia went along and had a blast, she bonded with Kathi a nice lady that carpooled with us up to the location. She became Emilia's new buddy and Emilia hiked most of the time with her. Kathi was so funny talking and singing with Emilia, spining around on the trail to the song. A few times Emilia would exclaim that she was "so tired" and squat on the side of the trail only to jump up and race to the front after a few people passed her. There was a total of 13 people there. One guy brought his new puppy - which everyone had fun playing with. Afterwards a bunch of us went out to eat afterwards. It was a great time with a great bunch.