I LOVE THIS! Hey, what did you get?

Isn't that always the case. The whole idea of the grass is always greener. My kiddos both got TAG reading systems from Santa, and they love them, it's just, they love each others more than their own. Which isn't entirely a bad thing, but, when Tristan is more on the wavelength of colors, letters and numbers, he is reading books about long and short vowels and I am thinking that maybe, JUST maybe, it's a little over his head.

And the stupid just keeps coming...

Today, I was standing in what seemed to be one of the longest lines that I have ever stood in at Target. It was at least 10 people deep...and to think, I was only getting a gift card! There was this woman behind me, with 2 very unhappy babies, so, naturally, I let her go ahead of me. She was purchasing underpants. This is important to know, because it leads up to the stupid that pours out of my mouth, but wait for that, it's coming. So, she checks out and swipes her card...DENIED. She asks the clerk to run it for her, DENIED. Her total was $11something (yeah...some pricey underoos indeed) but all she has is a $10. Naturally, I cover her difference. Then, this happened.

Girl is leaving, very appreciative, waves to me
GIRL: "Thanks so much, Merry Christmas"
ME: "You are so welcome, enjoy those panties."
GIRL: has this happy/surprised/uncomfortable look on her face...as does my clerk...and the rest of the 8 people standing in my line.

Seriously?? Enjoy those panties?? What the heck was I thinking? Well done, Jenn...you definitely have a way with the words.

I did something stupid

Today I did something incredibly idiotic. Trinity was attempting to make something out of glass DADS CREAM SODA bottle when the stupid act followed.

ME - "Trinity honey, be careful with that...*touching the bottle* it's glass"
Trinity - "I know mama, I'm being careful."
ME - "Good *pointing to the bottle again...this time, getting too close and knocking it off the table* because we wouldn't want THAT to happen."
Trinity - "Uh, mom.....*confused look on her face*"
ME - *blushing...trying to play it off as something I meant to do* "Just trying to show you how terrible glass could end up if we aren't careful"
Trinity - *Just standing there with this "YEAH RIGHT" look on her face.*

Mass Consumerism, Shopaholics and Crazy Ladies....

What do they all have in common?? Zhu Zhu Pets. Seriously...these things are driving people to act all kinds of crazy. First of all...let's talk about the hoards of people at the mall...OH MY GAWD....I can't believe the way that people are running around like crazy to get "that last gift"....note to all of you out there, avoid the mall at all costs. Now, back to the blog title. Yesterday, I was standing in line at Toys R Us to return an afterthought, when I subtly mentioned to the cashier "So, what's the big deal with these things [pointing to the zhu zhus]" she says "Oh, what...the Zhu Zhu Pets??" and, apparently, that set off some sort of alarm in the lady behind me, because she commenced to jump out of line, and literally, scoop all the remaining crazy magnets off the table....WOW, I wonder if she knows about the "Limit ONE per customer" rule that they have. It was one of the strangest things I had ever seen. Either she was A) The 30 year old Grandmother to 17 children that all wanted a Zhu Zhu pet (unlikely) or B) Crazy. I'm gonna go with B on this one. You should have seen the look on her face. So, beware of the zhu zhu pets, they may try to take over an otherwise perfectly sane person near you.

A little FYI for you...

It burns REALLY bad when you get ginger in your eye. Just thought I'd share.

Hey mom...look what I did!

So...I'm a Liar.

Here I go telling you that I am going to keep you posted on all the ins and outs of everything us, then I drop the ball...again. Geesh. I guess I should of said I will "TRY" to keep this thing updated. Hey, better a little here and there than nothing at all right?

Let's get crafty!

T loves her crafts, and with t being sick, this is something REALLY simple to keep her busy and having fun. enjoy FUN PAPER DOLLS

t is sicky poo

t started vomiting 2 days ago...came out of nowhere, no fever, nada. SOOOO, we come to find out that he had a dairy/milk exposure...definite no no in his tummy that's for sure. He is doing much better today, but, yesterday, not so much. He didn't even eat ANY Thanksgiving, at all. Hoping the next few days it will clear out of his system and he will be back to his boyish, crazy self.

UPDATE...almost all clear, he still isn't wanting much food, but, he hasn't puked since late last night. I am hoping this means that he is on the mend.

The Little White Turkey Lie

My daughter is such an animal activist...so much so, that she decided that she will no longer be eating anything that "sounds" like it might be an animal product until she investigates it further...*sigh*. She said, "They kill the animals mom...it's not fair." After a night of tears just at the thought of how they "kill" the turkey for Thanksgiving, she banned it all together. Ham is ok, since, it doesn't sound like PIG and is in turn not easily associated with the death of an unsuspecting animal. So, in a shameless attempt to save Thanksgiving, we told her that her Grandpa found the turkey from a farmer, he was an old turkey that lived a really good long life...he died of natural causes, and since it isn't good to waste, he will be our Thanksgiving Turkey. She agreed that "he" could enter our house on a platter, but, that she would still have no part of it....alas, my daughter has become....me.

Working Girl

It's happening. I have become a working mom. When Shannon was laid off in July, he worked painstakingly at sending resumes, interviews and leads in an attempt to find SOMETHING...anything that would help. I sat and watched as he worried about finances, applied for unemployment, and got rejected for being "overqualified" for jobs he interviewed for. I decided to step up to the proverbial plate and start providing the best way I know how for this family...and for him. I worked on advertising my photography, getting new business cards, networking, offering specials until...tada...it paid off. We have been doing really well with just my photography, and Shannon is now staying home with the kiddos. This is our dream, I get to do something that I LOVE...and he gets to spend time with people he loves. Everything really does happen for a reason.

Where are the people?

With the explosion of the WWW and email, people stopped writing "real" letters and instead just sent mass emails, I will admit, I am to blame for this too. Next on the agenda, blogs. People starting blogging in leiu of calling family for updates, and now, if it's even possible, applications like facebook, twitter and myspace have even pulled us away from our blogging! I too have been lacking in keeping this stinkin' thing updated, it just seems so much easier to post a "status update" but, alas, I vow to do better. Today is the day I blog a bit more.

Absent Minded Blogger

I have been MIA for a while here...promise to keep you all updated better really soon...but, quickly, my reason for being so absent minded is this head of mine...boy, is it causing me some real problems. Headaches suck. There is no other statement that better explains it than that. This is how I feel,

hopefully, we will see a rainbow. I will post more fun things soon, for now, have a happy halloween!

I wish I had birthday pictures to post.

Trinity celebrated her 6th birthday on Saturday! It was so.much.fun. She had 5 friends (girls only this time) and they just did girly stuff. We had the parents drop the kiddos off, and they jumped on the couch, read books in her room, played with her toys, decorated cupcakes, painted their nails, played "pin the crown on Trinity" and more. It was by far, my favorite party yet.

I took SO MANY good pictures, she had the best time. We bought her a cruiser for her birthday, and in themorning, took her out to "debut" it for the first time, I brought with me my trusty beloved camera, my work camera, and captured some amazing shots. We went over to the park, played in the sand and tehterball...during this time, I had set my camera down on the bench...only to forget it later. I didn't remember that I had "forgotten" it until many hours afterwards, and by then, it was gone. More than anything, I just want the memory card back, they can keep the camera, if they need it that bad....just give me back those memories.

So, I wish that I had pictures to post for you, for Trinity, but, I don't...hopefully, in a few days, or weeks...even months, someone will have returned it, and I will be showing you the look on her face when she jumped on the couch, or the smile that she wore when we painted her nails..but for now, we just hold on to the faith that all people are good in nature, and someone will return to us what is ours.

More allergies, and some answers too

You may recall a few months back when we started testing on Tristan to determine what he is allergic to and to what severity. We also performed a Comprehensive Digestive Stool Analysis Test to help us get a better grasp on what nasty little bugs are causing all of little t's tummy troubles. His tests came back, and boy...there are some interesting answers.

First off, lets talk about his allergies. He is ABSOLUTELY, 100% allergic, very severly I might add, to Wheat, Dairy, and now, EGG! He is sensitive to a bevvy of other foods, to include cranberries, but none as bad as the 3 previously stated culprits. So, starting today, he is GF/CF/EF and then soy in moderation. Can you stay, styrofoam dinner?

On to the more interesting part. They found high levels of yeast, specifically, candida albicans in his stool/gut. There is evidence that this form of yeast, may cause autism and may exacerbate many behavior and health problems in autistic individuals, especially those with late-onset autism. INTERESTING. The microbiology returned that t has high levels of BAD bacteria and NO PRESENT levels of good bacteria. Basically, his tummy has been a breeding ground for bacteria and yeast...no wonder the boy has never had a solid stool in his life.

Tomorrow we start the anti-fungal medication Diflucan. This is a blessing, and a curse. Because, with this med, comes the "die-off period"....a timeframe usually 7-14 days (sometimes longer) where all the yeast dies in his body, and is excreted. Some parents report constant screaming, hyperactivity, anger, sleepless nights...and the light at the end of the tunnel you ask? It's huge...many people state that once their children complete a full cycle of the medication, that they have increased eye contant, increased usage of words/language, decreased negative behaviours such as biting, teeth grinding, stimming etc., some parents report that their kiddos RECOVER. WOW. Though we don't expect a recovery, we welcome any positive change. I will just be happy when his tummy doesn't hurt anymore, when his ear infections go away, and when he can sleep without wakingup screaming in pain.

Here's to a new day, a new chapter and new beginnings! I will keep you posted on our progress.