Grateful for this Last Year

It’s been a while since I did a chat about my own special kids.

I have 3 kids. 

All boys, preteens and teenagers.

Now before you ask, nope - we aren’t having any more. 

That train left the station a very long time ago. :)

If you were to look at my boys, they are turning into young men. I mean a countdown is kind of forming. 

Counting down to summer. To a drivers license. To a first job. To senior year and then all the college decisions. And that’s only for my oldest in the next 4ish months. Then my middle, counting down to when he will actually step foot on his high school campus for the first time. All the fun that will happen next year. Of Friday night lights, of finally meeting those high school buddies. Or getting his permit and starting to teach him how to drive. So much he gets to experience. Or when my youngest will get to start attending our middle school and youth group. There’s a lot of fun things, big things, on the horizon. Change. 

Over spring break I had an epiphany. Of all the times that I have been sad over how fast the years have flown. This last year has been a blessing in many ways. I have been able to appreciate their day to day moments, that in other circumstances, normal circumstances, I would have missed. When time has slowed down and we had more family time. When we had to rely on each other more. When we had to think outside the box. Of all the obstacles that we’ve tackled. 

I have given so many home haircuts over the last year.

We’ve also seen first hand exactly how our own kids learn with their academics and have been able to support them, get some habits and organizational things going that will help in the future. Two of my kids have IEPs, and all three have done really well this year, all things considering. There has been growth. There are still challenges, but I'm proud of my kids.

All these years of being busy and rushing to the next thing and phase... I have been so focused on the lasts of things. All the milestones that have passed for my kids. I guess it’s easy to get moody about what’s passed by, and what they missed out on this school year, but I need to remember there has been so much good too that has happened and is on the way. So much that is still coming. My kids are still kids.  There is still more to cherish.  

Like summer... I can't wait until summer... 

What did you learn this year? What are you looking forward to?

Spring Break 2021

It’s spring break. It’s been a beautiful week, full of family time, both inside and outside.

Guess what we’ve done this week?

Easter was a lot of fun. A lot of those traditions that I thought my boys have outgrown, but they haven’t. Kids are still kids.  It’s just changed so the boys were running things. Our egg hunt this year was gigantic. One kid hid eggs for his brothers in the front yard, another kid hid eggs in the backyard, and one hid downstairs in the house. Then we moved from location to location as the other two went racing all over finding the eggs. Some eggs were filled, some were empty. So still the challenge of finding all the eggs, but they didn’t know how much candy they got until it was all over. They had a lot of funwatching their brothers. So much joy. 

We also decorated eggs... This year I used the air fryer to hard boil them. 250 for 16 minutes, then an ice bath for 5 minutes. It worked great and it was nice I didn’t have to boil water, wait for my instant pot to come to pressure, or wait for the oven to preheat. It was definitely the easiest and fastest way to get a lot of eggs done.

Our church had a Good Friday walk through in the parking lot, and Easter services were also outside, chairs in the parking lot, and then we had Easter lunch with my dad and sister. It was really nice. 

The rest of the week has been doing random projects , organizing, and relaxing. 

My oldest is a junior in high school. So this week has also been about visiting college campuses. We’ve visited 5 schools around here. 4 on a single day. With all 5 of us in the car for 6 hours. That’s a lot of numbers. Going back and forth with benefits of junior colleges vs university. Private school vs. public. Small college vs larger. Money stuff... lots of money stuff... Thinking of majors... timelines... Along with all of that I’ve been wrestling that he’s old enough to do all of this. What happened to my baby boy? 

I’ve also spent a lot of time in the passenger seat as my kid practices with his drivers permit. The goal was to tackle 8 hours during spring break. Learning night driving skills and working his way to get ready for the freeway. He’s driven me all over this town and the back roads. Then he’s done the same with his dad. I’m not ready for the freeway. I think he’s ready though.

Have I mentioned lately how much of a control freak I am? 

Yesterday would have been my mom’s birthday. I spent some time with my dad, had her favorite meal for lunch, and we went through their wedding album. Most days don’t hurt anymore, but yesterday was hard. I miss her a lot. She was a great lady, and memories are sweet.

Today I get to have a date day with my husband. Again. After the last year of our dates being the extent of runnings errands together, not being able to leave the boys at home alone for too long, a few Saturdays ago we went to Half Moon Bay for a day. Dropped the kids off with my dad and headed to the beach. It was to celebrate our anniversary. 19 years. :) Today we are doing the same thing but heading to Monterey. I feel blessed. It’s a beautiful day. I hope places are open. That’s the hard part. Not knowing what is open or not. That’s why the kids aren’t coming with us. Well that's one reason...

It’s nice to spend time as a couple. Walking around, not on a schedule, holding hands, sitting and chatting, relaxing in a beautiful setting. I’m so excited. When we are in parent mode there's always a schedule, and we have to keep going and going... we are just like that Energizer Bunny. Today I get to just be with my hubby and I am grateful.  

But come tomorrow real life will descend again, and I have to open up my plan book and make sure everything is ready to go for next week. I have my list with all the review. We have 1 week before state testing starts and it’s time to kick it into full gear. There is so much more to prep with hybrid. 

I wish spring break didn’t have to end. I hope you have had a wonderful break too. 

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!  

For the first time EVER all 5 of us stayed up to bring in the new year, probably because we kept the kids busy last night...  We played challenge games:

 

1) Balancing balloons on cups while wiggling.

2) Throwing mini marshmallows into a clock shaped arrangement of cups.

3) Transferring chocolate candies from one paper plate to a clock pattern using only a straw.

4) Using jumbo marshmallows and launching them across the kitchen and catching them in a cup.

Did we have fun?  Oh yes!  Did they sleep in long enough today?  Nope!

We also had a dance party, watched a couple of shows, built legos, and then made brownie bowls at 11pm.  

Country Living Magazine had posted a picture on IG a couple of days ago and I decided to try it.  Poured the batter into the muffin tins, baked for 30 minutes, pressed down with an additional muffin tin/ice cream scoop to make it deeper, then continued baking for another 7 minutes until really done.  Topped with ice cream.  It was delish!

My youngest started putting his head down on the couch at 11:55... oh, the irony of making him wake back up!  What's on the agenda for today?  Filling in my new planner, thinking about cleaning the house and putting away Christmas, and having a 24 hour date with my honey (lunch to lunch).  My wonderful parents are taking the boys on a special winter break sleepover.  But for now it's all about these pjs. 

Hope you had a great night!  How did you celebrate?

Christmas at Home

Hi Everyone!  I hope you are having a fabulous break.  Goodness knows, we NEED it!  I wanted to share a few pictures of what my Christmas has consisted of so far... I love this time with my family.  

 My boys have kept me busy.  Hubby had to work a lot last week, so I had my boys help tackle all those before Christmas projects... We hosted the big family meal (which meant a lot of extra cleaning since my parents and inlaws would be coming over - ha ha), so to keep the boys busy I had them make the place cards and decorations for the table.  These little trees were wooden doll bodies that they painted in different shades of green, and then decorated with puffy paint.  I had these little star/snowflake stickers that they attached to toothpicks, and placed in the top hole of the tree.  All in all they were so cute and helped make our table festive.  

I had to go to the grocery store on Christmas Eve for fresh bread and ended up finding three of these five drawer units too.  It's a wonder what the grocery store carries... Now, my boys didn't know it at the time, but they were getting new "big kid" desks and I wanted everything organized... no more pencil boxes upon pencil boxes of art supplies.  I ended up taking rainbow color stickers to help them sort their supplies and they fit perfectly on the shelves of their new desks.  

My older boys have been using folding tables as desks for the past 2 school years, so between their excitement over a real desk, and my kindergartener's excitement over having a big boy desk - well it made for a happy, functional Christmas present.  

We hosted the big (both sides of the family) dinner on Christmas.  It's a family favorite to have Party Chicken so I wanted to share the recipe with you.  :)  It's a flattened chicken breast, with a chunk of swiss cheese and a piece of ham tucked in the middle... then rolled up within a slice of bacon, and held together with one or two toothpicks.  Yes, it was delicious... then the sauce is cream of mushroom with sour cream (equal parts), and optional to add a little cream of sherry.  Bake for 3 hours at 275...  We had this and lobster tails, Napa Cabbage Salad, Baked Mac and Cheese (since the kids aren't adventurous), and Roasted Green Beans.  So good...

Hope your holiday was fabulous!  

A Mommy Post

Good morning.  I'm writing today as a mommy.  No pin-able images, just me chatting.  I was thinking the other day how different this summer has been from last summer.  It's a good thing.  Really!  A lot can change in a year, and I'm so thankful.

Last summer I had to deal with full blown temper tantrums numerous times a day.  I had to give multiple time outs, my patience was really low, and my blood pressure was really high.  My middle was 8 and he would act out constantly, sometimes hurting me or another person in the family.  We thought it was him just being stubborn.  We didn't understand how he was so different from my other 2, we were doing the same rewards/consequences with everyone and it just wasn't working.

Last summer was the huge lightbulb moment.  The fact that my little 4 year old would act more mature than my 8 year old was a big deal.  I teach 4th.  I know this age, and something was different. Then I had confirmation when a friend posted about her son.  It was a Facebook message about how he was upset over a piece of chicken on his fork.  We'd had that same temper tantrum over the same thing in my house.  I learned about Oppositional Defiance Disorder.  I learned about it and realized we needed help or we would end up with a teenager in jail.

So we emailed the doctor in August.  It was rushed through the proper channels and soon he was being retested for ADHD.  I didn't think he had ADHD.  I mean he had a hard time memorizing math facts, but he wouldn't get up and wander.  He didn't seem to fit the picture I had in my mind.  I didn't understand the correlation then, but ODD occurs in one out of 5 kids that have ADHD.  He was diagnosed with ADHD in September and we chose to start medication.

It was our choice.  As a teacher I have seen the miracles that happen when students are able to focus.  I was skeptical still whether or not he had ADHD.  Honestly, I thought the doctors were wrong.  BUT the medicine wouldn't have worked if it wasn't ADHD.  His brain was running constantly, and the stimulate works opposite in kids with ADHD.  It actually calms down their brains for them to be able to focus.  We saw an immediate change.

We started behavior therapy for the ODD portion of it.  It was a family thing... we learned how my son's mind is like cobwebs and he's trying to focus through it.  The medicine clears the cobwebs away.  The doctors have said that the medicine doesn't do anything for the ODD part, but we've seen that when he's able to focus and reason, he doesn't get as frustrated so easily.  Less frustration equals less meltdowns.

We went to a ticket program in our home for half of last school year.  He would earn his rewards.  It was a way for him to be able to recognize all the rewards that he was taking for granted.  He would have to "work" for them.  Be a helper, earn a ticket.  Take a shower, earn a ticket.  Do your best on your homework, earn a ticket.  Y'all know how much I dislike real tickets though, so I used ticket clip art to put 30 on a page and he would highlight them.  The tickets added up into prizes - game time, watching a show, getting a McDonald's ice cream, etc.  

We were able to go from there to switching to "If you do this, then you can do that". That's where we are now.  We've had regressions and have gone back to the tickets when we need to.  He doesn't like them, but he likes the rewards he can earn.  He will now go weeks between huge meltdowns.  He will go days between time outs.  He doesn't physically hurt us anymore.  That's what I meant when I said that it's such a huge difference from one year to the next.  I'm so thankful for all I've learned this year.  

I wish I had been taught more about ADHD years ago, so I could have seen the signs earlier.  I wish I had been told how it's not just a focus thing, it's a brain thing.  I wish I had understood so I could have helped my son earlier, so I could have helped my students better.  Understanding is a gift.

Thanks for listening to our story.

Monday Made It: Summer, Home, Business, and Health

Monday Made It time with Tara yet again!  Let me start off by letting you know that this past week was BUSY!   Here's what I made... (Warning - a lot of pictures!)

First up - Summer Stuff

We ventured away from home over to our home away from home - Pismo Beach.  Hubby had his birthday, and I got him a selfie stick.  We MADE time for our family.  I MADE time to take a break from the computer, breathe the sea air, stick my feet in the sand, and sit still enough to watch whales playing in the ocean.  

I MADE time to be goofy with my kids. 

I MADE time to fly a kite.

I MADE my kids visit historic buildings - missions and towns, etc... I MADE them take this picture (and a bunch of others).  They love me though.  <3. 

... and after eating treats for the majority of the week, I MADE myself pull out my motivation jars and put them in a place to view constantly.  Honestly, I still need to bump the "Lost" marbles back over to the "Pounds" jar.  This was a Monday Made It a couple of years ago, made with 2 glass jars and some silver alphabet stickers from Michaels.  

Made It #3 is all about business stuff.  It's still weird to think of this little blog... (and store, FB page, IG page, Pinterest account, etc.) as a business, but since I've paid taxes on it the past 2 years I guess I need to change my mindset sooner than later.  

I set up my 2 binders - one for the upcoming conference and a new one for the blog/store. 

The conference one I used a cover frame from Lovin Lit and added information to create different dividers - one for each session I'm attending, another one for my schedule, another section for business cards, and another for activities I would like to do in Vegas.  Just like last week's school binders, I cut them out, glued them onto the polkadot card stock.   

I also printed out all my handouts, and put them inside the binder.  I'm so excited about this upcoming  trip! 

For the blog binder, I've used one for the last couple of years to hold all my TPT information, but I heard many many people sharing about the planner from Mandy.  I bought the digital version and it was an easy print.  LOVE all the boxes!  It has already helped so much, as this past week I started in on the #TPTSellersChallenge.  

The goal was to update something in our TPT Stores, I started out and so far I've updated about 18 things - some with just new covers, some with extra pages, just tweaking things to make it more me.

Monday Made It #4 - Home Stuff

This last week we decided to refinish our kitchen table.  Time wise it worked out great to do this the weekend before we left on vacation, as the varnish we bought needed at least 3 days of no touching before it could be used.  We were gone, no little fingers to worry about.  I'm embarrassed about how bad it was, so I didn't bother taking a before picture.  So happy with the after results.  

  

It's so shiny!

This last thing probably isn't a big deal to anyone else, but I also repurposed a hang up laundry basket for our collection of empty water bottles.  It now hangs on a hanger on the outside of our shower.  Easy to catch all the random bottles that end up upstairs, and easy to bring downstairs when it gets full.

  

Okay, I'm done babbling.  I hope you have a fabulous day! 

PS. - I'm going to apologize in case the pictures are acting all wonky.  I don't know why they don't want to just line up in the middle... guess it's a Blogger issue at the moment.  Have a great day!

ADHD & ODD - What a Roller Coaster!

I'm sorry that I haven't blogged much this school year.  It's been a roller coaster the past few months.  This summer we finally contacted the doctor to request testing for our son.  He was having temper tantrums multiple times a day.  He's 8, and most of the time he was acting younger than our 4 year old.  Love him, don't like the behavior.  Completely draining.  It was like something snapped, and what used to be just stubbornness and impulsivity had turned physical and verbal.  Time outs were more common, he was saying mean things to our family members.  That's not how we have raised our son, and we didn't know what was going on.  

A friend mentioned her son had a temper tantrum about chicken pieces on his fork, that it was the life of an ADHD and ODD child, and it clicked that we had had the same temper tantrum the week before with our son.  We requested testing and they forwarded our information onto the Mental Health department.  Everything moved in super sonic speed in August, and I went in for a parent orientation.  Then they called later on that day and set up an appt. with a child psychologist in another town for the next week.  He recommended that our son be tested for ADHD (which was interesting because he didn't qualify two years ago), and they got him in later that week for the group screening time.  These last 2 appointments happened to be the week before school started, and my poor husband had to go to the parent meeting by himself because I had to be at my contracted beginning of school meeting.

Then the wait started.  Everything was supposed to take 4-6 weeks after they received the paperwork from us and his teacher from last year.  Time dragged and school finally settled into a routine.  A routine that included my 3rd grade son having a hard time keeping himself organized, of more and more temper tantrums before school and after school.  

I was researching online about ODD and it seemed that he had every "symptom" listed.  I blamed myself, but then got the wake up call that as parents we had done nothing wrong.  What worked for our other 2 boys just wasn't working for him because his brain is wired differently.  

Then the official call came in, and of course they wanted to meet with us.  They don't want to meet with you in person if nothing is wrong.  So we went in, and they told us the official diagnosis.  ADHD and ODD.  No surprise there.  At least I had read about it.  What surprised me was the depression that overtook me for the past 3 weeks.  The reality that this is our life.  I know that sounds bad.  I had been hoping for years that his impulsiveness and stubbornness would be a phase.  To learn that he will have hardships for years until that portion of his brain develops (which it develops at a slower pace than average kids), and that he will have to learn coping techniques... It was just more than a little overwhelming.   

  We have started behavior therapy because it's been known to work.  2 appointments into it and we have a plan.  We are presently trying out the plan of "I need you to do this ____, and then you can do that____."  It's all about rewards and retraining the brain to want to do those things that will cause him to get rewards.  The therapist has said that he will fight us with these changes, that it's going to be more challenging as we are putting more intensity into changing the behavior.  It's been a tough week.  He is motivated because if this doesn't work the other plan is to take away everything in his room and he has to earn everything using a ticket system.  

We went in for another dr. appointment and he started ADHD medication this past week.  As a teacher, I have seen the beauty when meds work.  I haven't seen the hardships that go on behind the scenes though.  Of learning the hard way that he can't take his pill with milk because it will cause a stomach ache.  That when it wears off around 4 he will become a bear to be around.  Right now he's on the lowest dosage, and so far it's not helping him to completely focus yet.  We have to give it another week or so, and then we can regroup.  

In the meantime, since he has an official diagnosis, we have also asked for testing through school for any learning disabilities.  If nothing else a 504 to make sure he gets accommodations when he needs them.  Life is definitely not dull these days.  

I guess I'm not putting this out there for any other reason to let you know where I've been.  That I haven't fallen off the planet, just that my plate has been completely full.  That once again I'm learning to give it all up to God, and let Him carry us through this difficult time.  

Please keep my family in your prayers as we navigate the best plan of action for our son.  We love him so much, and we want the best for him (like all parents do).

Thank you!

TBT: Back to Fourth Grade

For The Teaching Tribune's linky today we are sharing a picture of ourselves at the same age of the grade we presently teach.  This morning I went looking through my dusty picture albums and had a good trip down memory lane.  I saw my family's trip to Epcot center, my junior/senior years of college, my family reunions across the different states, and then I came across this picture.  Me turning 10... Double digits... Same age as my 4th graders...  The year that I finally learned how to keep my eyes open in a picture...  The big perm (triangle) haircut... I really loved head bands back then.   

   

I still remember the feeling of turning double digits.  Now it's old news, but back then it was something BIG!  You are probably counting the candles on the cake - there are 11, but that's because my parents always put one extra "to grow on".  Our traditional family birthday cake is an angel food cake with strawberries and ice cream.  It's the same today, I still love that cake that my mama/dad make.

Back in 4th grade I already knew I was going to be a teacher.  I guess I started telling my parents back in preschool that someday I would teach.  For a while I thought I would be exactly like my mom and teach K-1, but in college I really found my passion with those "big" 4th graders.  I love the age, I love the personalities, and I love the curriculum.  Of course I've taught a lot of different grades over the years, but I keep coming back to 4th as my favorite.  

Well, that's a little about me. 

Have a great day!

Photo Dump of Christmas Vacation (so far)

I'm just going to put it out there - you might have seen some of these pictures if you are following me over on Instagram.  It's been a pretty busy couple of days!

So excited - I'm seeing my BFF in just a couple of days.  We are heading to Legoland (we surprised the boys on Christmas morning), and her family is going to meet up with us on New Year's Eve.  We haven't ever really lived near each other - we met back in college - so I'm SO EXCITED to see her!!!  

Yes, I broke the washer.  I know it was me since I'm the one that tried to wash 2 kids' comforters and towels at the same time.  It threw the basket off balance, made a horrible sound, created a burning smell, and completely died.  It was a good washer - lasted 10 1/2 years with our family of 5.  So last night we had to take the boys and go washer shopping.  Found a great deal on a top ranked model that fit our price range.  It'll be delivered next week… so today I'll be hauling our laundry to my parents (just like I used to do back in college - but x5).

This is my word wall in my kitchen.  A couple of new things were just added - that "Do Small Things with Great Love" was a gift from a student.  Hubby also added a hook to hold up the aprons - yes, plural.  The boys have camouflage ones for those messy spaghetti dinners and when they help me cook,  and then I have my apple and sunflower ones.  The aprons have just been hung on a pushpin before now - I love how it took me 10 years to think of something so simple.

All 3 boys had their first official brother sleepover last night.  My youngest was so excited that he was finally big enough to join them.  I didn't wake them up when I took the picture.  :)  These past days have been so busy keeping them occupied and trying to clean.

This was us on Christmas morning.  The kids rushed downstairs (after I made them wait until 7… 5:15 was just too early!)

For Christmas I was blessed with a lot of Massage Envy gift cards.  It was the only thing that I really had on my wish list (if you don't count a flat iron).  A while back they were having a special - buy 2 gift cards get a free one, and my dear husband and parents picked up the deal.  So I had a "free" one yesterday, and will have another "free" one in January - (the free ones expire in January).

The days have been filled with Legos…

Here's our official Christmas picture.  Little bits did NOT want to get in the picture.

We also had fun painting the extra glass ornaments.

… and my oldest has been cooking us dinner.  

I'm loving this family time!  Hope you have a great day!