Valentine's Treat

Valentine's Day. What a production! Andrew's class has 25 students, teacher, teachers' aide, and four play leaders - oh and his 3rd grade buddy who all required valentines day cards. whew! We got all the valentines and treats together in time - plus getting Adam's valentines ready for his class too.

I'm on a serious gluten-free kick these days for Andrew. So, in the spirit of valentine's, I made home-made gluten-free ding-dongs and they came out fab!

Recipe:
1 box gluten free chocolate cake mix. I used Betty Crocker.
1 1/2 bags of gluten free chocolate chips. I bought them at Sprouts.
Whipped cream
Heart sprinkles

Directions:
1. bake cake in 13 x 9 baking dish and let cool.
2. Use a heart shape cutter to cut out the cakes.
3. fill a frosting bag with whipped cream. I used a thin piping tip to infuse the whipped cream in the cake. Next time I'll use a different whipped cream as the store one I bought soaked into the cake.
4. Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave and dip one cake at a time. Cover completely with chocolate. Remove and place on waxed paper.
5. Sprinkle heart shapes or whatever you choose.
6. Place in freezer for 30 minutes or so to harden.

I think you could use any shape to cut out some adorable cakes.

Gluten Free Brownies

We are still going gluten free. I have come across some challenges like the best gluten free bread for Andrew. I love the Udi bread, but Andrew doesn't like it. So, i've let him have the regular bread, eek. baby steps I guess.  I've been trying to bake at least one gluten free thing a week.  This week I made gluten free brownies and they were so good! 

My gluten free product of the day is:



This brownie mix is really good. You cannot taste that it's gluten free. The texture is just like a regular brownie. I love it and my kids love it too.

New Year, New Blog

Wow, my last entry was last May! I don't know why I fell off the radar. Work, kids, husband, life?

Quick update: Andrew is 6 1/2 and in 1st grade and doing so well. Adam is 4 in pre-k and is growing too fast. I decided to get back into the blogging world to share my thoughts and wisdom on autism, parenting, discipline, eczema, and gluten-free - to name a few.  Things that I have learned so much about and things that have helped me and my family.

Up first: Gluten-Free and the product of the day

I decided to put Andrew on a 100% gluten-free diet for two reasons. 1. to help with the behaviors associated with autism spectrum and 2. with his eczema that he has had since birth.  Gluten is found in everything bread, pasta, lunch meat, chips, anything processed. It acts as a poison to kids who cannot digest it.  It has really affected Andrew's eczema too. he scratches non-stop until there is blood and his skin is extremely dry.

I have swapped out almost everything for gluten-free. I have tried new things like pastas and breads with no gluten and they taste fine, a little different in texture but good. Udi is a great brand for breads, and quinoa pasta is awesome too.  So far Andrew has accepted our new gluten free life style and you know what? The behaviors have gone down. He's much more compliant and easy going. And the eczema - nearly gone. Amazing.

I did some research on gluten and household products too. For a long time I thought Dove was the best thing for Andrew. Lately though, he's been telling me his skin stings in the bath. I read that the makers of Dove strip the soap of glycerin the ingredient that is needed to moisturize skin. Therefore drying out his skin even more!

So began my hunt for a better soap. I read many good things about goats milk soap or anything that has glycerin in it or palm oils. I found great products at sprouts. The other thing that I have been using is coconut oil. I put this on Andrew morning and night. All over his body, then his medicated lotions for the really red spots and then albolene over his whole body to seal in everything.

It's been two weeks since we have started gluten-free, glycerin soap and coconut oil. Andrew's skin has improved so much. He is less itchy, less redness, the dry skin has gone away and his skin is actually soft!!!

Product of the day:

Coconut oil

Been awhile

Time flies. Where have I been? What has been going on? Oh the same stuff as always. Raul traveling, working, being a mommy, a referee, wiping tears, keeping the kids busy. March and April were busy but fun. We had a small Easter lunch at our house, went to church and had an easter egg hunt. We've started attending church regulary now since Andrew has been asking questions about god and religion and didn't know what a church was. The kids enjoy going to church and get upset when we miss it. So now it's church on Sundays and a family activity afterwards.

Here's a picture of Adam at school. The Easter Bunny came to visit, and yeah, my kid is the only one crying.

April we celebrated Andrew's 6th birthday. I can't believe this kid is 6. He has gotten taller and his looks are changing. He has two loose teeth. Along with him getting taller, he has matured a bit too. Long gone are the huge tantrums we used to have, although one will pop up out of the blue but nothing like before. He is doing so well with processing why he's angry and calming down on his own. He knows it's not the end of the world if we turn the tv off before bubble guppies is over.  Now Adam on the other hand. He's my fire cracker. The two's were a breeze...the three's? oh boy. This little fire cracker has a temper and will let you know it! But I love his personality and his poutiness when he get's angry.

Andrew on the zip line at his birthday party





As for me, i've been busy with my little cake pop side job. I've had a few fun orders. I made these baseball cake pops for a friend at work.

Imagination.

Adam loves, loves his "guys." Guys meaning all his action figures like batman, Star Wars, and Transformers. He will go and get the "guys" almost everyday and create some kind of scenario. My favorite was last night when he told me batman was dead. I looked, and all the star wars guys were in a circle around batman. He didn't tell me how batman died, but it was a serious moment.

Andrew, who is just in Kindergarten, had to write his first book report this week. He had to write the title, author, draw and write his favorite part of the book. Not too stressful, but still a book report! Of course the book he picked was Star Wars. Of course his favorite part was when the people were fighting.

What a week.

Raul got back on Sunday from a 5 day trip only to leave yesterday. He'll be back on Sunday. Then, he leaves again next Thursday for 17 days, holy hell. Thank god my neighbor stocked me up with xanax. Seriously, it's not thaaat bad. The kids are awesome. I stocked up on art supplies and fun stuff to keep them busy. The thing that is hard is the fighting. oh the fighting. These two boys will fight over a piece of lint.

I have about three reward charts going to keep things running smoothly and lots of reinforcements when good behavior is presented.  Hopefully Grandma will step it up and take Andrew for a night or two. Adam attempted to stay the night at Grandmas last Saturday. He packed his bag and everything only to call me at 9 pm to come pick him up, oy! So, I picked up Adam and then dropped off Andrew and all was good.

I'm not scared of 17 days all by myself. Well, check back with me in a few weeks. I may be curled up in a fetal position.

Happy Friday.

Sad.

My best friend at work left Ryland yesterday. She found an awesome job as a personal assistant. I'm so happy for her, but so sad too. She has been my rock and seen me through dark days at work. Not only a good friend, but a mentor and a mom to me with advice that I will take with me forever. Work will never be the same. Martha's perosnality and sense of humor was one of a kind and this woman was so creative! I will miss her terribly, but wish her the best.

9.3

I woke up a few weeks ago and realized, it's 2012.  I started at Ryland (my job) 9/30/02. This September will be 10 years! I ran to my boss and she looked in the system and sure enough I've been here 9.3 years. The good news, I get 4 weeks vacation that's sweet. The bad news, what the hell have I done in 9.3 years. Oh yeah, got married and had kids. I keep thinking of things I wanted to do: go back to school to get my B.A., get back into my make up career (yes, I wanted to be a make up artist) and do more baking hoping I could get a little biz started.  Hopefully I can still achieve those dreams. I'm only ... 38, eek!

Happy New Year

It's been awhile. Christmas was fun, but hectic. The boys got everything they wanted. I think we may have bought too much, but the smile on their faces were worth it. Andrew kept saying, "this was on my list, this was on my list." Very cute. 

New Years was mellow. Raul and I went to dinner as we always do on New Years and were home just before midnight to toast and ring in the New Year with the kids.

My birthday was yesterday. 38. Can't believe it. I'll be embracing my 40's soon.

Some new years resolutions:
As always to be healthy and try to loose 10 lbs
Be more patient with the kids. They are only little once.
To start taking the kids to church on a regular basis. I would like them to have a good foundation of God. Plus, Andrew keeps asking about god, and religion.  Andrew, "what is that building over there?" Me, "A church" Andrew, "what's a church?

Happy New Year.

Thanksgiving Review

Thanksgiving was a success! I almost went the Albertsons route and bought a turkey meal. I do that every year, think about just buying an already made meal. I'm glad I didn't do that because I do enjoy cooking everything. Andrew even raved about how nice the meal was. The long weekend was nice, but Raul had to work Thanksgiving day, Friday, and Sunday. Needless to say, I was not mother of the year by Sunday. I felt bad this morning after yelling at the kids yesterday. I told them I was sorry, I loved them, and that they were good boys.

I was actually looking forward to coming to work this morning so I can check my emails, and go to the bathroom in peace. I'm preparing myself for Raul leaving tomorrow for 5 days. This will be his last trip until January. Thank goodness.

Proud Mommy Moment: Last week I had a parent/teacher conference with Adam's teacher. (Yes, 3 year olds have P/T conferences) She told me how well he's doing and that he's the only kid in his class that can recognize letters, and numbers when they are mixed up, not just in order. I felt proud. Andrew's teacher told me he's doing really good too. An aide that helps him out told me he's very bright and knows a lot of things and his coloring is perfect! no scribbling. He learns his sight words so quickly. I can't believe he's learning to read.

Happy Parenting!

My New Obsessions

Obsession #1
I feel like a teenager again (silly, I know) but I love, LOVE this band and they have been around for awhile...

30 Seconds to Mars! I love their music and so do my kids. We turn up the music super loud in the car and rock out. They are playing their final concert in New York on December 8th. Wish I could go.

That blonde mohawk!

Obession #2

Twitter!! I signed up a long time ago but recently I have been on it all the time. I love following my friends and favorite celebrities, hehe.

Obession #3

The Vampire Diaries! Love this show. What is it about those hot vampires? I watched season 1 & 2 on netflix and I haven't stopped. I'm onto season 3. I guess I am a teenager at heart, haha.

Recap

It's been over a month since my last post. Lot's of stuff happening. My work moved to Westlake Village, bleh. My new desk is right in front of the boss's, ugh. So it's hard to get some internet time.

Andrew started kindergarten, tear. He was so stinkin' cute heading off to school. He really loves it and is doing so well I am so proud of him. Kinder is big-time. The teachers do not look in their back packs to take out their homework, paperwork, or lunch tickets. He has to be the responsible big boy and put his homework in the homework tray, take out his tickets to give to the teacher and remember to turn in important paperwork.

We've been super busy with Andrew starting kinder and a new schedule. He get's out at 2:39 and super grandma Herme picks up and takes him home for his sessions. Now behavioral therapy is Monday - Friday 3 pm - 6 pm and Saturdays 8 am - 5pm...oy! Plus, just signed the boys up for t-ball and soccer.

Adam is on his own at preschool with no big brother to hang with. He's doing awesome and is learning so much at school. He can count up to about 20, knows his colors, shapes and abc's. He celebrated his 3rd birthday this last Saturday with a Star Wars birthday and mom dressed up as Princess Leia.

We had a blast at his birthday party!

Happy Parenting!

Life Lessons

Yesterday I picked up Andrew from school and he was crying and so upset. Apparently, he didn't get invited to a schoolmates birthday party. The mom only invited 4 kids from his class and he wasn't one of them. I understand money is tight and you don't want 12 kids at your house and it's the kids choice who he wants at his party, but how do you tell that to a crying 5 year old? What are the boundries when inviting kids to a birthday party? I guess you can try and be descreet and slip the invites in the cubby's or folders (which is what this mother did) but how do you tell a kid not to talk about your party?

I'm not upset that he didn't get invited. I'm more upset the birthday kid and his buddy were teasing Andrew and telling him they are going to "rip his invitation so he can't go." This to me crosses the line almost to bullying. These kids are pre-schoolers ! It's such a find line, you want to teach your kid good manners and grace and to just walk away but then you want to tell your kid to smack them. Of course I told Andrew if they were teasing him to just walk away and go do something else or go tell his teacher.

It was really heartbreaking to see how hurt Andrew was and to think that already we're dealing with this sort of stuff.

I'm off to go pick him up now. I hope he had a better day.

Happy Parenting!

Letting go

My kids are growing and getting big and it makes me sad. I know we're not having anymore kids, but to see my boys grow makes me weepy. I threw out the changing pad from the changing table because Adam is potty trained, and now he sleeps in his toddler bed. He's not my baby anymore.  I was thinking of selling my double stroller as the kids have pretty much outgrown it. Although, I do use it occasionally for Adam. I put an ad on craigslist and had a buyer, but I couldn't part with it! I'm not ready to part with my stroller yet.

Recently we bought bunk beds for the kids. We haven't put it up yet, but we will soon. I just know when we pack up the crib and furniture that I will be totally sad because that will confirm that my kids have grown.

Happy Parenting

Is this it?

   Im blogging from the depths of the human resources file room at work. There are days when I just think to myself, " is this it?" Is this my life? Shredding documents, filing paperwork, and hole punching. I go on endless job interviews only to be disappointed when im told, "we went with another candidate." Ouch, how many times can a person take that.

I know, im glad I have a job but I want to be happy again at my workplace where I spend most of my existence.

Until then, I will continue on.

Happy shredding!

My Little Indians

It's a western theme at the kids school this week. I tried to get some pictures of these two monkeys, but as usual one is goofing off or the other is looking the wrong way.

little indians

Cowboys!

This picture just cracks me up. Adam looks like a little ricky ricardo.





Book Review

As I mentioned in a previous post, Andrew's constultants are reading books to him when he's upset. The books talk about how you feel and how to calm down. Here are a couple:

By: Thich Nhat Hanh & Sister Thuc Nghlem

By: Kerry Lee McLean

Both are awesome books!

Happy Wednesday

Calm Corner

Andrew had a monster of a tantrum Saturday with his consultant. He was upset about not having a toy placed in the right spot, yeah we're working on flexibility.  The consultant had to leave the room and wait for him to calm down. When he did calm down they went to the "calm corner." This was set up in Andrew's room and it's a space for him to use the relaxation techniques that have been taught to him.  He has this huge stuffed caterpillar that the consultants use to wrap around him and he squeezes it while taking deep breathes. It really, really works and he calmed down in the matter of 10 minutes.

He got upset another time and by himself went into the corner and started his breathing. It's awesome that he's doing it on  his own, recognizing when he's angry, and using these techniques instead of being aggressive.  The consultants also read him these books that talk about calming down. I'll have to look at them tonight, but I know one of them is "the peaceful piggy."

Other than tantrums and tears over the weekend, Andrew went to grandmas and is now sporting a new haircut. We went swimming on Sunday and Andrew has just conquered his fear of jumping in the pool and just runs and jumps. Adam is still a little scared of the water. He chills on the steps, but he did get brave and go in the shallow end with dad.

Happy Monday

spitting, ugh.

Yesterday I picked up the kids from school and they both had good days so they got to pick a toy to go home. I should talk about these toys. First of all, their school is a converted house so there's a garage on the premises loaded with supplies and a corner of used, broken, annoying toys. Everyday we have to go in there to pick a toy; it's very annoying. Yesterday Andrew picked this helicopter that didn't have a propeller. He spent 5 minutes trying to look for it and I finally gave him a warning that we were leaving. He did well with the transition and got in the car; the propeller was never found. I told him in the garage that the toy was broken.

We got in the car and Andrew made a comment about the damn toy. I told him it was a broken toy and we can't find the piece to it. Well he didn't like what I said and spit in my face. One thing I HATE is spit. So disrespectful and not acceptable. I had to calm myself down because what I wanted to was take him out of the car seat .. and ... well I did good by calming down. I did tell him (in a stern voice) that we do not spit and he will be getting a time out when we get home. I continued by telling him that I was disappointed in him and that we do not spit. He told me he was angry and didn't like what I said about the helicopter. I guess the comment about it being a broken toy angered him.

I told him thank you for telling me how you're feeling but we do not spit. I asked him, "what do we do when we're angry" he said "walk away." The consultants are teaching him other ways to deal with his anger and walk away is one. Although, we were in the car, but at least he got the point.  We got home and he said he didn't want a time out that he calmed down. Another tool from the parent trainer. When tantrums happen, put them on extinction. Let him have his tantrum; he has to calm down on his own. He did calm down and I praised him for that but he still had to do his time out. He did it and in a calm manner. He almost broke down the door the other night when we put him in time out.

Happy Parenting

Adam's rough day at school

Everyday when I pick up Adam he runs to me and is ready to go. He always asks, "what are you cooking tonight?" Yesterday was odd because he didn't do his usual routine. He saw me and continued to play with his legos. I told him it was time to go. He said "one more piece." I started to prime him that he had one minute, then 30 seconds, 10 seconds. He's still playing with the legos after my prime, so I go to get him and tell him it's time to go. He throws down the legos, stomps his feet, and starts screaming. Where has my angel gone?

I march him over to the corner of the classroom, bend down to his level and tell him to stop crying that it was time to go. He keeps up the tears and sniffles. I tell him again, "stop the crying and wipe your tears." he does both and we begin to leave. The teacher stops me and says, "Adam didn't have his listening ears on today. He was throwing toys, and hitting." Awesome. I told the teachers he's been aggressive lately and has been punching people in the arm. He does get time-outs for those things at home. The teacher also told me he hit some kid in the eye last Friday and broke a blood vessel in his friends eye! holy moly.

We leave the school and normally the kids get to pick a toy to take home, if they were good. Adam was heading for the garage, and I told him "hey Adam....come here" he knew exactly what I was referring too. He had a bad day = no toy. He cried and cried. We all got in the car to leave and he was crying. Part of me felt bad for my little baby, but there has to be consequences.

Adam went to straight to bed that night (Usually the kids watch a cartoon before bed) but not Adam.

In the morning we asked him what happens if he is not a good listener or hits his friends. He said, "go straight to bed."

These kids are so smart. They know the rules. We just have to enforce the rules and be consistent.