New Meds Are Helping

Yeah…we have really seen a big improvement in the boys behavior since the Psychiatrist adjusted the medication he had put them on at the last visit.  Nick is controlling his temper much better and seems to be in a much improved mood overall.  Bradly is having very few incidence with lying and he is not trying to agitate and annoy as much.  I just hope and pray this isn’t another one of those “Honey Moon” phases.  Nick starts summer school on Monday and he is quite excited.

The boys just left to attend their “Social Skills '” group in Warsaw, but will be back in a couple of hours.  It is really nice because their skill builder picks them up and returns them home.  They have been working on “boundaries”, fire safety and various other good things.

I relisted a purse made from Alexander Henry’s “Sailor jerry” tattoo fabric this morning.  I really need to get busy sewing this week and get a few more items listed in my shop.

We talked to our son Steven who lives in Houston, TX.  He and a few of his friends spent the weekend in Austin.  It was Steven’s first time there and he was very impressed with how much cleaner that city is than Houston.  A bizarre occurrence was that someone he met this weekend actually went to school with my husband.  Now that is rather strange considering we live in New York…I mean, what are the chances of that..LOL  :o)

So Far so Good

Yesterday was the first day of summer vacation for my kids.  I have to say that the way this past week has gone, I was not really looking forward to vacation starting.  In truth, yesterday was awesome.  Both boys behaved super well and the day was relaxing and enjoyable.  Today has been pretty good too….at least the sun is shining.  We got so much rain so quickly yesterday that it was just standing in our yard.

I whipped up a crab macaroni salad to go with the steak Steve is grilling for dinner tonight.  We had an awesome Chinese hot chicken and spinach salad for lunch that was so filling and yummy it was almost hard to believe it was really healthy.  I love the precooked grilled or roasted chicken breast strips in the dairy case…they make it so easy to make a salad like we had. We had not done very well on our diet he last few weeks, and I was quite unhappy when I stepped on the scales and saw that I had gained 9 pounds.  That called for immediate action and we got back at eating right.  I decided to brave the scale and see if I had been able to lose any of what I had gained….I lost 7 of the 9 poundsI had gained and was so relieved.  Do you ever wonder why the weight comes off so hard and goes back on so fast??    :o)

LAST Day of School

Well, it has arrived!!  This is the boys last day of school and it is a half day.  Nick will be attending summer school for 6 weeks of the summer beginning in July.  He is quite happy about going and was very upset yesterday because he wanted summer school to start sooner.  Nick had an episode with his anger on Tues. and we were requested to come to school and pick him up.  Evidently there were  two incidences of another boy hitting him on the playground.  Instead of getting help from a grownup, Nick hit the kid back.  Due to Nick’s anger issues, it was decided that two adults would escort him back into school and give him a chance to cool off.  When the three of them reached the door to enter the school, Nick kicked the door and shattered the glass.  Because it was a safety type of glass, the glass remained in the door but was shattered.  I am not excusing his behavior in any way, but I have a feeling that part of the problem was that he had to go in and the other child remained on the playground and he was just as much involved as Nick.   Either way, we will be continuing to work on helping Nick control his anger.  The doctor increased the new med he has been on and we are all hopeful that it will aid him in a little more control. 

Oh, and if anyone is wondering about my Tues. post in which I shared the issues we are having with  Bradly poking more holes in our new bathroom wall, I wanted you to know that he is still among the living. LOL  He made the very wise choice to be honest about what he had done and therefore is grounded until Sat. instead of the two weeks I had threatened him with if he was to ever ding the wall again.  I appreciated the comment Christie left about having him brush the old fashioned way with his finger and toothpaste.  I have since found that you can buy toothbrushes that fit on your finger like a thimble.  Bradly knows that if this behavior occurs again, this is the type of toothbrush he will have.

Despite the chaos of the last few days, I did manage to finish another diaper/tote bag.  My new camera arrived yesterday, so this picture of the new bag is the last that will be taken with my old camera.  The new camera is rechargeable and also has a small tripod which will help with the pictures of small items like wallets and tooth fairy pillows.  I am hoping to redo some of the old, blurry pics.  :o)

Frustrated

In November we remodeled our downstairs bathroom, including new drywall for the walls and ceiling as well as a new floor and sink.  We started noticing dings in the wall and amazingly they were an exact match to the end of Bradly’s toothbrush.  Now, he is 11 1/2 years old and I think he is old enough to not be destroying things.  One of the dings became a hole that Steve patched and before he could even paint it, Bradly had dug a hole into the patch compound.  Of course he was denying having anything to do with these holes, but soon discovered he could not lie his way out of it.  We told him if he did it again, he would have to be supervised in the bathroom (oh yeah, that is what we really want to do)!  So anyway, a few weeks went by and he made more dings…..lost some privileges and we gave him a break on joining him in the bathroom and supervising if he promised to never do it again, which of course he did.  So, last week, Steve patched everything and repainted the wall.  I informed Bradly that if he put dings in the wall again, he would be majorly grounded for 2 weeks and he would basically have no life.  I honestly thought with those consequences he wouldn’t do it again.  Well, guess what…we have new dings and I am ready to choke this kid.  If anyone has any ideas, I am so open to hearing them.  I realize Bradly has problems, but this is ridiculous.  We decided that if he is honest and doesn’t try and lie his way out of taking responsibility for his actions, that we will make the grounding until Sat. rather than two whole weeks.  Grounding at our house includes no t.v, no pool or trampoline, computer or GameBoy……basically no life.  I would be insane by the end of 2 weeks of him being grounded.  The thing is, I do know better than to make threats of consequences I would not want to enforce. …but I did it, so I figured the best way to shorten it up and still keep my authority is to give him this chance to be honest.  Well, I appreciate being able to spout off about this problem, and blogging about this just might keep me from choking him…LOL  :o)

Father’s Day

Well, the weather is not great, but it sounds like it is going to be wonderful for the rest of the week, and we can have a great day no matter what the weather is.  My parents and Steve’s brother are coming for a yummy lasagna dinner today.  We are having a tossed salad and Italian bread as well as a “Father’s Day” cake.  Mmmm

I finally got the pics taken of my newest diaper/tote bag.  I love this blue and white pinstripe fabric with daisies strewn about on it.  It would make a great diaper bag or an every day tote.

I am not usually a big fan of plastic canvas creations, but I saw a couple of really cute games in an Etsy shop yesterday, and they were made from plastic canvas.  The shop is called “  Gailscrafts “, and here are a couple of pics of these cute tic tac toe games.  Here is the link to her shop. 

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6851853

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rain, Rain go away…..

Ok, so the weekend is here and I want to know, “Where is the sunshine”?  It sounds like “Father’s Day” is going to be nice and rainy too.  It is a good thing I decided to make lasagna for dinner tomorrow so my hubby wouldn’t have to grill……he may have gotten a bit wet..LOL

I finished another diaper/tote bag but did not get it listed.  When I went to take pictures, my camera wasn’t working.  It tends to go through batteries very quickly..I think I need a camera that is rechargeable.  Steve found a nice one on an overstock online store that is rechargeable…I think I am going to take the plunge and buy it.  I have to have a dependable camera with all the photos I take for my two shops.

Rachel went to the big, Taste of Country concert at Coca Cola field in Buffalo last night.  Blake Shelton, Craig Morgan, Randy Owen (lead singer from Alabama) and Julianne Hough were the country stars playing last night.  I haven’t talked to Rachel this morning to see if it was a good concert.  With those stars, I would have to believe it was pretty good. :o)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If You Own A Cat…..

I was thinking about some of the wonderful items I have purchased from various Etsy shops in the past year.  One of the coolest items I purchased was the Christmas gifts we bought for our two cats (Stopho and McGreggor).  There is an Etsy shop that goes by the name “Hannapt”, and they make items for cats.  The “Eyeball” balls we bought came in a set of 2 and were only $10 for the pair.  Here is how Hannapt describe their “eyeballs”.

{These splendid cat toys are handmade with clean recycled sweatshirt fabric, this provides a great nubby texture cats love to chew on. Everything is stitched on without the use of glues or scary chemicals. Stuffed with plenty of minty organic catnip these eyeballs are a hit! Big enough not to roll into the cavern under your stove or fridge but light enough to bat around for hours. They are kitten tested, perfect to chew, kick, bat and pounce on. I make the eyeballs in tiny batches so the catnip is fresh and tasty!}

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=26519550   is where to go to check out these awesome cat toys.  Both of our cats absolutely loved these eyeballs……actually our dogs even played with them, although it is not recommended.   :o)

Rock Painting

I thought I would share a project I have been working on.  I just finished painting rocks for under the bush as you come into our house. I had done some about 5 years ago but I decided to do new ones this year. There is a rock for each family member that lives at home as well as one for each of our two dogs.  I also have rocks painted for our flower bed at our camper.  Here is a pic of the ones I just finished at our house.

If anyone is interested in painting rocks for your flower bed, all you need is acrylic paints, brushes and clear outdoor spray paint to seal them.  The first thing you need to do is wash your rocks and dry them in the sun until they are good and dry.  I use a larger brush or a sponge brush for the background color.  Be sure and coat it well, as some rocks  are more porous than others and will soak up the paint fairly quickly.  After the base coat is done and dry, you can start painting your design.  If possible, I make each person’s rock with something they enjoy on it.  This isn’t always possible as I am limited as to what I can draw.  I sometimes use a permanent black marker to do the lettering, or I use black paint.  If you are careful you can draw your letters on with a pencil and then outline and paint.  When your rock is all painted, and quite dry, spray with several coats of the clear, outdoor spray paint.  It is important not to leave your rocks out during the winter if you live where it is cold and snowy.  We just put ours in the garage until Spring.  This year Bradly wanted to help me paint, so he put the base coat on most of the rocks and he was quite proud of his work.  The kids also helped think of what to put on the rocks, for instance Bradly thought since Nicholas likes to camp, a tent would be great as well as a campfire.  Nicholas thought I should paint a Pokeman on Brad’s since he loves them.  I took their advise and they each liked their rock. This can be a great family project and I find it to be very relaxing.  :o)

Healthy Blueberry Muffin Recipe

I promised you yesterday that I would share the recipe for the delicious blueberry muffins I made for breakfast yesterday.  I know they are yummy the second day because I just had one for breakfast.  I am impressed with how moist they are because sometimes muffins made with wheat flour can be dry.  This cookbook has some really delicious but healthy recipes.  I have this copy on loan for the summer from my daughter Megan, but I am thinking it would be worth buying my own copy.

  BIG FAT BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

INGREDIENTS

1 cup whole wheat flour                                                                   

1 cup fresh blueberries (I used frozen)

1/2 cup light vanilla soy milk

1/4 cup sugar free pancake syrup

1/4 cup fat free egg substitute (I used two eggs)

1/4 cup granulated Splenda

3 TBSP. brown sugar (I used Splenda brown sugar)

2 TBSP.  light whipped butter or buttery spread (I substituted flax seed for some of the butter.)

2 TBSP. no sugar added applesauce

1 1/2 teas. baking powder

1/2 teas. vanilla extract

1/4 teas. salt

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a medium mixing bowl,combine wheat flour, Splenda, brown sugar, baking powder and salt.  Stir until mixed.

In a large mixing bowl, combine soymilk, syrup, eggs, butter, applesauce, and vanilla extract.  Using an electric mixer or whisk, mix until thoroughly blended.  Do not worry if butter bits do not break up completely.

Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in the large mixing bowl and mix until completely blended.  Fold in the blueberries.

Evenly distribute batter into six muffin cups lined with papers or sprayed with Pam ( I sprayed mine and they came out great.)

Bake in the oven for about 22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Enjoy!

One muffin…137 calories and 2.25 grams fat.

CHEW ON THIS……..

Shocker alert!  Besides the berries, a Starbucks blueberry muffin is stuffed with around 500 calories and 19 grams of fat.  Ahhhhhh!

The Fridge is Clean!!

Yes, I finally got around to tossing out all the outdated stuff in our fridge and washing the shelves.  It looks so good when I open it and can see everything.  Now, I have promised myself that I am going to keep it this way…LOL….I wonder how long that will last!!

We rented “Hotel for Dog’s” and I must say it is a very good movie.  I was in tears when the brother and sister got placed separately.  It is a great family movie if you get a chance to see it.

I listed a new diaper/tote bag last night.  I really need to retake the pictures as I am not pleased with them at all.  Here is one of the pics.

I made some wonderful Blueberry muffins for breakfast.   I got the recipe out of the same cookbook I got the potato salad recipe that I posted about a month ago.  These muffins were super healthy, yet they were so yummy.  Tomorrow I will share the recipe.  :o)

Unusual Finds

I thought today I would share a few of the unusual items I have found in some of the Etsy shops I have visited.  I think this first item is so cool.  I have never seen this kind of foot jewelry…..but it is such a neat idea.  The name of the Etsy shop that I found this foot jewelry in is “GetNoticed”, and this item can be found here.. 

 http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=25718833

 

This next items is a little pair of twin dolls that are small enough to fit in the bottom of a child’s book bag as a little reminder of home.  The shop owner resides in the UK and her shop is called…  “Lovealittle”.  Here is the link for this cute pair of dolls.   http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=11794693

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The last item I am going to show you today is a cute little personalized baby ornament.  This would be the perfect gift for a new baby.  The owner of this shop is..  “Melaniescrafts” and this shop owner is located in Buffalo, NY, which is only about a 45 minute drive from my house.  This adorable ornament can be found here…      http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=19708962

I hope everyone enjoyed this small glimpse into a few Etsy shops.  :o)

Chloe

Our family was very sad and upset to learn yesterday that our family dog of almost 11 years has cancer.  We haven’t told the two younger boys, but our grown children all agree with our decision not to do the treatment.  It would be horrible for her and we just want her to live out the time she has left being loved and happy.  We will just love and enjoy her until the time comes to take her back to the Dr.  He said we would know when that time was.  :o

CHLOEOn another note, I am in the process of making 5 totes/diaper bags from the basic pattern I created for the “Doggie Travel Bags”.   I have sold a couple of the doggie bags as purses already, so I thought I would make up 5 of them in different fabrics and see what happens.  I did sell a lizard tooth fairy pillow from my Holiday and
Gift shop over night, so that was nice. :o)

YART SALE

I bet some of you are thinking I mispelled “yard sale”, but I have it correct.  Etsy Street Team is hosting their second annual “YART SALE”, beginning today, Wednesday, June 10th and running through Sunday, June 14th.  Each participating shop will be running it’s own special promotional offer.  I am offering an additional 25% off every item in the sale section of my shop, not including shipping costs.

Here is the addy for the Etsy Street Team blog which has lots of information concerning this great event.  

http://teamesst.blogspot.com/

This will take you to the thread with a huge listing of participating shops.  http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6181610&page=1

I would love to hear if any of my readers found themselves a bargain during this sale.  I will be checking out the sales……like a yard sale without leaving my computer.  :o)

Off To The Drive-In

I just made a couple of big bowls of homemade popcorn and the drinks are chilling.  We are taking the boys to see, “UP”, and “Night at the Museum  II”, at the drive-in which is about 15 minutes from our house.  They are so excited as this is the first time we have been this year. Steve took the van through the carwash so the outside of the windows are clean and then he washed the inside of the windows, so we are all set.  Rachel is going too and will take her own car.  She will have Nick and we will park next to each other, this way, everyone can see and the big bonus is the boys can’t bicker!!  It is a great night for it…warm, but not too warm and no rain.

We drove around Lime Lake today as it was their yard sale day.  We spent a whole $1.50.  Steve bought me a light for my studio and the boys got a pr. of headsets to play with.  They need batteries, and even if they don’t work, they are having a blast with them and they were only 50 cents.  We are pretty good at hunting down the bargains, but the yard sale queen is my sister-in-law, Denise.  I think she is the one that got me started on them and boy, can she hunt down a bargain!!

I finally listed the last two kid’s aprons today in my “Holiday and Gift Shop”.  I feel really good about getting them done as they have been sitting around, all cut out for months.  I need to make a couple more men’s Barbeque aprons. I made 2 before Christmas and they both sold.  Here are the other two aprons.  :o)

Mountain Pies

MMmmm…if you have never had a mountain pie, you really need to find someone with the pie makers and try them….you won’t be sorry.  We went up to our camper for the late afternoon and evening.  Bradly planted flowers which he loves doing, and Nick watered them.  They actually got along while doing this.  I cleaned the deck and Steve fixed our screen door and made a great fire.  We made mozzarella cheese and pepperoni pies and then for desert, we made some with blueberry pie filling.  It is so amazing how much Bradly has changed.  Last year we were lucky if he even finished one pie….today he ate two cheese and pepperoni ones and 1 1/2 blueberry pies.  It seems so nice not to have him be so picky.

My goal for today was to finish the other two little kid aprons that I have had cut out since before Christmas.  I actually had three, but got one done yesterday and I did finish the other two this afternoon.  Here is the pic of the one I made yesterday that is already listed in my “Holiday and Gift Shop”.  Hopefully I will get the other two listed tonight.

Oh, by the way, I did figure out what I was doing wrong with my drawstring bags….I was stringing them wrong.  How in the world I got to this age and have done all the sewing I have done, and not known how to string a drawstring bag is beyond me.  I found a tutorial and followed it through to the part where they put the string in.  Boy, did I feel stupid..LOL  Once the bags were strung properly, I was quite pleased with them.  :o)

Rascal Flatts Concert

Rachel and her best friend, “Amanda” got tickets yesterday for the “Rascal Flatts” concert which is coming to Buffalo this summer.  They are quite psyched about it.  I think the last concert I went to was “Aerosmith” in 1979 at the “Aud” in Buffalo.  Boy, that makes me feel really old..LOL The Aud isn’t even there any more. The amazing thing is that “Aerosmith” is one of those groups that are still going strong and another generation likes them too.

Bradly had two good mornings in a row which does not happen very often, and it feels so good.  He always needs a few reminders, but I can live with that.  You know he had a good morning when he leaves and I am not in tears, or so frustrated I want to scream…LOL

I have been working like crazy on my dog collars and leashes.  Yesterday, Mindy, our dog groomer stopped by to pick up all the doggie items she is displaying in her shop.  I have 12 collars in various sizes and three leashes which match three of the collars displayed now.  She also has a “Doggie Travel Bag” displayed in her shop. Mindy purchased one of them herself and uses it a as a purse. We are both excited about launching this idea that we have been talking about doing for a year.  :o)

My Physical Was a Flop

Have you ever had an idea that just seemed inspired, only to have it totally backfire on you??  Well, that is what happened to me today.  Nicholas needed a fasting blood level done and of course he was nervous, so since I was having blood work and a physical this morning, I scheduled him to have his blood work done with me.  The plan was that after his blood work was done, Steve would drive Nick to school while I had the rest of my physical.  Now, because I totally hate having pap tests, I procrastinated quite a while on getting it done.  I had myself psyched out that today was the day, and then it would be over for another year.  Well, Nicholas totally got hysterical about the blood work, even after I had mine done.  He was screaming and really getting out of control.  After 15 minutes or so of this, it was decided that there was no way they were going to try and get his blood.  So, ok, at least my blo0od was drawn.  Then it was off to the bathroom to give a urine sample…..yup, you guessed it…I couldn’t go.  Now I have to go all the time and usually, all I have to do is think about having to go, and I have to.  Well, nothing!!  So I go back in the room and they tell me not to get undressed because there wasn’t going to be time for the whole physical.  I asked the Dr. to at least give me the pap test, but she said I would have to reschedule.  I did get the basics done and my prescriptions refilled, so all was not lost.  Lets hope I never get another brainstorm like that one..LOL

Megan and her sister-in-law, Loren, just stopped for a coffee break on their way to Pennsylvania.  My hubby baked them some blueberry muffins for the trip and we had some take out coffee cups with lids so they could have coffee to go.  Megan is letting me use her old laptop so I have a computer down in my studio.  Sometimes, I will look up a tutorial on something, and have to keep running up and down the stairs to check and see if I am doing it right.  This will be so handy.

Oh, I almost forgot, I promised pictures of the dog collars I finished yesterday.  I am hoping to get a few more done today.  :o)

Dog Collar Day

I got  6 new dog collars made today to take up tot he dog groomer’s place.  Three are x-small, two are large and one is x-large.  I will hopefully have a picture to post on tomorrow’s blog update.

Megan is leaving for camp in PA to work as a nurse for the summer.  Scott’s sister, Loren, is also a nurse and she is going also.  I hate the thought of her being 6 hours away from us, but we can still call each other.

I have an appointment for a physical in the morning.  It has been hanging over my head like the plague for days.  Whenever I have to have a physical I  always have myself convinced that they are going to find something very wrong with me.  I really hate PAP tests and actually skipped last year which wasn’t very smart of me.  I am having fasting blood work and Nick needs a fasting blood work also, so I scheduled us together.  I thought it would be easier for him if we were both getting stuck with a needle.  He is still not very happy about it.  Steve will run him to school after his blood work while I get my physical.  :o(