Halloween

Halloween was fun, the kids got a kick out of dressing up and going trick-or-treating. However, I noticed that each year the lite porch lights are less and less. Maybe people are going to parties with there kids, or maybe they just don't want the hassle anymore. We have always gone over to my sister's house and gone trick-or-treating in her neighborhood. Last year I remember that and the end of going up and down her street we had to off-load the kids because their pumpkins had become too heavy. That was not the case this year. I think next year, since it is on a Friday that Steve and I might just invite people over to the house for a Halloween party, bring the kids, have some fun, maybe have an adult party later in the evening. It has been almost a decade since I dressed up for Halloween, it might be fun.

Unconsious Gestures

It is amazing to me that with all we teach our children ABC and 123 and such that they seem to learn more by observing and repeating. They absorb our speach patterns our unconsious gestures, our habits. Yesterday Emilia (my six year old) and I were driving to my sister's house for Halloween. I had a glass of ice water and Emilia asked for some. We were at a stop light so I turned and gave it to her waiting for her to be done so that I could take it back. She took it, swallowed some and rolled her eyes with pleasure from the cold water. It was hilarious. No one taught her that. I am positive that I have done it when trying to get them to eat something at the dinner table. Mmmmmm! these vegtables are so good (eyes rolling heavenward). This is just one of many example of my daughter "learning" without being taught.

NaBloPoMo

That stand for "National Blog Posting Month" a challenge to blogger to post everyday for the month of October. If you want to check it out go to NaBloPoMo. I will be copying and posting my blogs from there to here to keep this blog up to date. Wish me luck.

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!