4yrs Old!

Sunday we celebrated Joe's fourth birthday with our families. We kicked off the party with a guys against girls (who's idea was that?) puzzle race/contest. Sadly, the boys beat us girls. sigh... we blamed it on them having an easier puzzle and one of the guys mixed up our pieces... but regardless of the reasons they still beat us. ;-)

I was pretty proud of the "Ham" & "Green Alien" cupcakes that I made (with Isaac's assistance) for the party. You can find tutorials for the pig cupcakes HERE and the green alien cupcakes HERE.
Joe had such a blast. He really enjoyed having all the family around. He hopped around the room with such a big smile on his face the whole afternoon.
Isaac helped him with the presents and of course the paper was more interesting than the presents but we're getting used to that! He did get some really great gifts though. Eventually the tissue paper ended up being used to pellet Pappy.
After awhile the kids settled down for naps and quiet play and the lingering "grownups" played Kemps. I haven't played this card game since youth group - many many years ago. I forgot how much fun it is. And how bad I am at it. ;-)
Anyway, it ended up being a really nice day with our families. Thanks to everyone for helping to make Joe's birthday special! Love you guys!

Ladies Retreat

This past weekend was my church's annual ladies retreat. I was privileged to be a part of the team of ladies who helped to plan and execute this event. Lots of work over many months went into this. We had a fantabulous speaker (my friend Leah's mom) who shared some of the hills and valleys that she has been through while traveling the Path that is her life. She has a wonderful heart for God and a lot of energy.


She got us all playing some really crazy fun junior high games. Its so great to see church ladies let loose and have fun together!!
It was a real blessing to spend the weekend with all these wonderful ladies.

Christine's latest

After what seemed to me a very long and frustrating couple of months Christine has finally started her First Steps therapy. We are blessed to have the same physical therapist that we had for the two years that Joe was in First Steps. And the new OT seems really great. I'm glad to be getting things moving with both of them.
Same as Joe's post: Yesterday we visited a physical therapist on a consultant basis. She doesn't take our insurance but she came highly recommended by a family member and our old First Steps PT, so when my aunt was able to make arrangements for us to get a consultation with her we were thankful for the opportunity. She had some suggestions for supplements and treatments that could help with Christine's development. So we will probably be pursuing orthotics, new supplements and potentially getting craniosacral therapy.
Recently we have noticed Christine becoming more interactive, more interested in toys and babbling more. She is still happy go lucky most of the time but she has begun to have some separation anxiety at times. Its been encouraging to see these new skills emerging in her. She has been gnawing like crazy as a result of cutting a couple new teeth in the past couple of weeks - two in the last day! She's up to seven now (four top and three bottom). Its changed her smile so much! I love her toothy grins! So cute!

Whats Goin' On with Joe

Joe had had a busy month or so. He had his annual visit with the opthalmologist at Riley (because Joe has the RBI gene we have to have regular checkups to make sure he is not developing tumors in his eyes). Once again we are thankful that the opthalmologist gave us another good report regarding Joe's eyes.
We had his IEP at school and that went about as expected. He still qualifies for the same services, developmental preschool M-F and PT, OT and Speech therapy 45min each per week.
Yesterday we visited a physical therapist on a consultant basis. She doesn't take our insurance but she came highly recommended by a family member and our old First Steps PT, so when my aunt was able to make arrangements for us to get a consultation with her we were thankful for the opportunity. I think unconsciously I had high expectations for this visit. A part of me was hoping that she would have some miraculous insight that would give us the"real" answers that have seemed to elude us thus far. But she did not. She did however give some suggestions for supplements and treatments that could help Joe's development. So we will probably be pursuing new orthotics, new supplements and potentially getting craniosacral therapy.
We are currently awaiting the completion of Joe's new wheelchair. The one he is using right now is a hand-me-down and doesn't fit him at all. We went from a second hand chair that was much too small to one that is much too big. We are looking forward to having one that was made for him.

Update on Nate

Recently Nate has lost his first and second tooth. Pretty exciting stuff around here. I am a bit in denial that my oldest is getting old enough to be doing big boy things like losing teeth.
Nate is continuing to do well homeschooling with me. Some days are better than others but for the most part we are both learning as we go. We are a part of a local homeschool group and we meet weekly for two months in the fall and two months in the spring for classes for the kiddos. Nate has enjoyed being a part of this group. I think it has helped us both that we already knew some families in the group that go to our church.

Another Yummy Recipe Post

Breakfast:
I am not a fan of getting up early or of cereal. I like real food for breakfast but rarely have the time to do it int he morning before getting Joe on the bus. So I like to have things that are quick and easy already made. I often make a double batch of french toast over the weekend and then toast a piece or two in the morning for Joe. Another thing I've been doing is making muffins and eating them for breakfast over a few days. I really enjoyed this Banana Oatmeal Muffin recipe.

Lunch:

I found this Grands Tuna Melts recipe. We make it a lot for an easy lunch. I like to add some shredded carrots to the mix too. Easy way to slip in some veggies!

Dinner:
The Sneaky Chef has a lot of recipes using baby food to add veggies to different dishes to make them healthier. One that we do often is the spaghetti sauce. What a simple healthy change that usually goes unnoticed!

Dessert:
I've been watching Hungry Girl's show from time to time. She has some great swaps to have healthier versions of foods we love. I've already tried a couple of her recipes including these Brownie Muffins - the secret ingredient is canned pumpkin! She has easy two ingredient solutions for yummy desserts!Anyway... there you go. A day in the life of our kitchen! Hope you try out some of these yummy recipes!