Witch Craft or Medicine?

About 5 years ago I started having back problems...NOT fun, I tell ya!

I spent several weeks seeing both a chiropractor and a physical therapist.  It was a really long healing process.  The chiropractor my friend referred me to was weird!  He was into all this holistic healing stuff, Chinese medicines, homeopathic type stuff.  I didn't really believe much in that kind of stuff, but whatever.  The adjustments definitely helped.

Anyway, ever since then I've had on and off problems.  This last summer it got really bad again.  It was to the point where I was in pain more than I wasn't and just could deal with it anymore.  So back to the chiropractor I went.  It was a different guy this time though.  He was good.  He was more a sports medicine guy.  I liked him better than the first guy, but he kept telling me I needed to walk.  So I started walking every night.  It helped a ton!  But then he told me I needed to start pushing myself more and more.  So I tried.  But every time I tried I would end up hurting so bad!  I felt frustrated that I couldn't just go out and run like I use to.  So after my initial care ended...and I was mostly out of pain, I greatly reduced visits to him.

Out of the blue last week, I got a phone call from my original chiropractor's office saying they wanted to update my file and would love for me to come in for a free re-evaluation.  I thought what the heck, couldn't hurt!  So I went in.  He had set up a whole new evaluation process including these weird tests to evaluate my internal organs, blah, blah blah, and did a new spinal evaluation, including x-rays...which I had never had before.  

I go in to meet with him today as a follow and here's the kicker...my right leg is 1/2 in. shorter than left leg which is causing my spine to be all bent out of shape!  Well, no wonder my  lower back hurts!  So he tells me a heel lift would most likely do me wonders with some occasional maintenance visits.  So we are trying that for now to see if that helps.

Anyway, to get to the real point of this post...

He went over the results of these other Chinese and German tests (that I thought was just weird to begin with!)  and concluded that I had adrenal fatigue.  He told me that a special dietary supplement would help me not feel tired anymore and I wouldn't want to take a nap every day at 1 or 2 p.m.  I was a little shocked because I hadn't even told him I was having low energy issues at all!  I felt like he had been spying on me or something because everyday for the last 3 or 4 weeks I have felt soooo tired right at 1 p.m.! (And yes, I have even snuck in a few naps over the last month)

Anyway, I came home and looked up adrenal fatigue and was surprised at how many "symptoms" I really felt!  So I bought the most expensive bottle of little pills I've spent ($30 for a month's supply of a special dietary supplement.)  I am really ready to do anything to help me feel just a little bit better.  

So hopefully, this helps!

I'll know here pretty soon if both the heel lift and the little bottle of magic pills work!  Let's cross our fingers...and toes!

Thank Goodness for Febreeze!

This is my story of my "oh-my-gosh-does-this-really-have-to-happen-right-now?" moment yesterday.

So my dear Mr. S is 3 1/2 and totally not potty trained.  His twin brother is.  But he for some reason has struggled with the concept and I'm about ready to pull my hair out that he doesn't seem to get it...or want to get it!  I was feeling poor last week while at the store buying another package of pull-ups...so I got the cheap ones...mistake #1!  

Yesterday, Mr. S got diarrhea.  Ewww!

My visiting teachers were coming later that morning and I didn't know if he was getting a stomach flu type thing or if he had just eaten something bad.  I figured I had a few hours to decide if I should cancel visiting teaching.  Well, he seemed fine the rest of the morning so I didn't think much of it again.

After cleaning my house (I swear visitors is the only thing that gets my house clean lately!)  I was sitting watching a few minutes of t.v. with my boys playing in the living room and my visiting teachers show up.  I walked to the door to let them in and noticed something all over the piano chair.  I initially thought that Baby Bree had spit up all over and then on closer inspection realized that Mr. S had another problem where his cheapo pull-up didn't hold up.  I'll spare the rest of the details on this part.

Needless to say that I was a little flustered trying to get him and the living room cleaned up...all while my visiting teachers were sitting in my family room patiently waiting to visit.  I'm sure they were thinking, "ah! we don't want to get sick!" or "that smells disgusting!" or "should we just go?"  I was so sickened by the smell that I even pulled out the Febreeze and sprayed everywhere as to cover up the odor!

But fortunately my visiting teachers were very patient and kind about the situation.  Every once in a while something like that makes me all worked up, flustered, a slightly mortified!  But I guess everyone has those moments!

Thanksgiving Printables

I get to host Thanksgiving this year for my husband's side of the family.  We are expecting around 17 peeps...including a handful of kids...mostly mine. :)  I was trying to find something fun the kids to do...not like they can't create their own fun, but I figure a little something might help calm antsy kiddos for those last few minutes of quiet conversation at dinner.

Click here to link to busybeekids

Anyway, I came across this awesome website with great Thanksgiving printables...and believe me, I looked at a lot!  Like...

This one from Whatever Dee Dee Wants

This one from Kinder Latino

This one from Parents magazine

I ended up printed the place mats, some word searches, some dot to dots, and some mad libs from Busy Bee Kids Printables.  Hopefully, it will be a fun little addition to Thanksgiving dinner!

Not So Cutesy Chore Chart

As school has started in full swing, I felt the need once again to have a new chore chart for Little Miss. She is in the Spanish Immersion program in first grade and it is a little intense!!! I needed a way to reward her for her hard work.

I tried a cute idea from Family Fun, but it totally did not work for us!

So I chose to do something more like this.

However, mine's not nearly that cutesy. But it is a very functional chore chart.
Basically, I took an old clipboard and spray painted it blue (to match her desk.) I glued her chore chart to the clipboard and slipped an overhead transparency in the clip w/ a vis-a-vis marker. When she complete her chores she (I) can check off the chore.On Monday evening, we tally up the previous weeks' checks and that is how many points she can redeem for prizes (such as ice cream, small treats, etc.)
Then we can just wipe off the chart and start over for the new week.
She LOVES it!
It has been so rewarding the last few weeks!
I also created my own weekly chore chart schedule.I didn't do anything cutesy with this. Just printed it and put it on my fridge. I've had this schedule in my head now for a while, but having it printed out to look at daily is a big help for me. Not only does it help me remember what I need to be doing, it looks so less daunting, than a huge "to-do" list. Don't get me wrong...I still have my "to-do" list. But now when I have "pay dentist bill" on my list I know I am going to do that on Wednesday, and not keep procrastinating day after day.

Fresh Food Feeder

Miss Sunshine has 2 teeth now. She is starting to crawl. She also has a growing appetite. I came across these fresh food feeders at Walmart and decided we needed to try it out.
We love it! (meaning both baby and I)
So far she has tried some melons, strawberries, bananas, cooked carrots, and mango. Her favorite by far was the cantaloupe.
I can't believe it took 4 kids before finally trying this nifty contraption!
Now the question is how long it will last.

Jewelry Holder

I found this lovely cabinet piece at the D.I. for $6 over a year ago. I just knew I could do something with it since it was in great shape, just a little funky in color. I originally thought I could do something for Little Miss' room for her special things.
I almost took it back to the D.I. a few weeks ago, because I just didn't know what to do with it. But I didn't. And then, suddenly it came to me. It would be a perfect jewelry holder!

So I pulled it out and took off the door. I originally thought I would paint and replace the door, but ended up leaving the door off. I also used those white cup holder hooks and screwed them up to the upper lip of the cabinet.

I primed it gray and then used Rust-o-leum 2x coverage in espresso. Love it!

I couldn't believe how perfect if fit in my bathroom cubby, that had originally been holding all my lotion and homeless jewelry. Now my lotion and jewelry have a nice looking home. Yay!

Here is a final look at my bathroom. And guess what? It drives me crazy to see model home perfect pictures of areas we use ALL the time. So this is the way my bathroom looks, junk on counters and all...of course, I did quickly wipe down all the counters and mirrors before snapping this picture. :)

Well, it is 10:30 at night and dishes still aren't done for the day, but hey, at least my bathroom is clean and organized!

Linking Up to:

Task Cards

As I thought about summer, I came to a firm conclusion that I needed to have some sort of routine. While I hope we have a fun, relaxing summer, I also need to have some sanity. I came up with what I felt would work for my kids.

I created a "task card" for each child. (I have called it a task card since my 6 year old daughter is already convinced chores are hard and bad.) Since my boys are just barely 3 I needed something very visual. Some of the clip art is a little funky, but hey it was free on Microsoft Word.

This is how it works:
Each child is expected to *make their bed *eat breakfast *get dressed *and do one chore first thing in the morning. Once these 4 tasks are complete than they can play outside, watch cartoons or do whatever until lunch.
(maybe you don't have to remind your children to get dressed or eat breakfast, but mine have a tendency to want to play before these basic things happen.)

We eat lunch together and then the kids are expected to go to quiet time. Oh, quiet time! This has been an interesting go in and of itself! Actually, Little Miss (6) is pretty good to sit in her room and listen to books on cd, color, or look at books. But my 3 year old boys...now that can be a challenge some days! But we're still in training and it's slowly getting better.

After quiet time we have "summer school." My kids, especially Little Miss, LOVE this time. I will post a separate post on what we do for summer school.
As long as their tasks are done than they can play or watch t.v. until dinner.
Then they have their dinner and bedtime tasks.

Included on the task card is one chore. This is how I've decided to divvy out the chores. I created 18 chores on the cards (that is 1 card per child per 6 days a week.) Each child randomly selects one card a day. It's been fun so far because the kids look forward to drawing their cards. It must seem like a game for them. And Little Miss has been more than willing to help her brothers with their chores. And yes, there is vacuuming and mopping on the cards, but I figure my Friday (or Saturday) cleaning will adequately make up for whatever the small kiddies' cleaning skills lack. It's all about the training and the consistency, right?

I tacked these all up in their hallway so it is easy to see. I didn't laminate them or make them real durable because I figure it will only need to last through the summer and then I'll end up changing things again.

So I'm reading "The Parenting Breakthrough" (by Merrilee Boyack) which is an excellent eye opening book and I might end up changing everything! But we'll see how this goes for a while.

I look at lots of mommy blogs...and this idea came from a mixture of a couple blogs I saw. But I'm horrible and didn't mark what they were so I really can't give credit where credit is deserve.