Dinosaur Footprint Project

Have you noticed that craft projects with younger kids such as toddlers is actually a craft project for the adult that is helping? My son has a craft he does at the end of his therapy sessions and it usually turns into his therapist doing it or today it was me doing it. 

Logan has 4 hours of therapy everyday but Tuesday and Saturday and by the 3rd hour he is just plain ol give out. Especially when he was going to school. He has been out a couple of weeks now and that will be a future post as to why. In order to make it more fun a craft hour was implemented into his therapy which involves puzzles, books and a craft. Well he likes everything but the craft he could care less for. 

He was supposed to do paint and trains yesterday but he had no interest in it. So I found something on pinterest and wanted to see if he would enjoy it. 

Like I said it was us that ended up doing this project.

What you need:
green paint or whatever color you want your dinosaur
black marker
googly eye
glue

As you can see he was not the happiest person in the world to be doing craft time. The finished product is cute though.

Find the Pin HERE and follow me on pinterest! By the way I just joined picket fence blogs so please click on the button on the side bar to give me a vote so my blog can get in the line up!  c61c0edb9fdbe9c356fca185331cad1ea5f09fee3e526c1ba6

A Summer Wordless Wednesday

Clair Justine oxox
Picture Perfect Party Linky
Aquarians Wordless Wednesday

Cell Phone Etiquette Tips

I know it is the end of the month but did you know that July is cell phone courtesy month? Sounds funny right? Everywhere you look people are on their phones. Its the normal thing to do but there are some things that go ignored. Like actual social interaction because of these cell phones. Yes I am guilty of carrying one around all the time and not looking where I am going because I am busy texting or just plain ignoring whoever I want and burying my face in my phone. 
There are a few ways to show your phone etiquette out in public or even at home. 

1. When you are at a check out stand, put away your phone! Whether you are the customer or the employee. I can not stand when someone is standing there checking out and they are on their cell phone at the same time. Even worse, when the person who is checking you out stops to text or looks at their phone. I think that is grounds for being fired. No questions asked. Put the phone away. You have a break for a reason. 

2. When you are walking somewhere, stop texting or looking at whatever you are on your phone. I do not think its right for me to move myself out of your way because you are not paying attention to where you are going and you are about to run me or my child over. Its just rude. 

3. Please do not carry on a phone conversation in a public restroom. We are all in their to do our business and not listen to your conversation. Let alone if I have some awful bathroom noises, I do not want you to hear let alone the person your on the phone with to hear. It's just embarrassing. 

4. By all means put away your phone and DRIVE!! Face it we are guilty to some point and yet one thinks we drive just fine while on the phone. Bull Crap. We all suck at it. Our attention is not focused on driving or our surroundings but on the conversation. We drive horribly and are reckless. Same with texting. Never text and drive. I catch myself at a stop light and start texting while sitting there. Still not a good idea. Just wait until you reach your destination. Save your own life and the life of someone else. 

5. If you have to have a phone conversation in public keep it low. No cell phone yelling. Its distracts us. Or try to excuse yourself. Go outside. 

6. Put away the phone while talking to someone. Its just plain rude to start texting someone else while talking to another or even worse, answering a phone call. Talk about a mood killer. "Hey honey, I love you, give me a kiss." "Not until I finish texting so and so oh yeah thanks, love you too." Talk about that being a relationship we all want to be in!!

7. Follow the rules. If you see a place that has a sign that says no cell phones, please put them on silent. Do so. There is a reason. Not just because they are cell phone haters. Who enjoys hearing someones phone go off during a movie? I did not see many hands so I am assuming not very many.

8. I think people should avoid cell phone selfies in public. Just my opinion. I think you look tacky especially if throwing up some stupid sign with you hands or sticking your tongue out or that infamous duck face and by all means, please please please avoid the selfies in the bathroom. NO ONE WANTS TO SEE THAT! You may not be expecting that unexpected photo bomb. It can be from a crazy person in the background or that surprise in or on the toilet. 

9. When out in public choose a decent ringtone. "Let me out" "Let me out" How was I to know that was a ringtone while frantically looking for some trapped person? 

10. You know how you can choose pictures to put on your screen on your phone? Be mindful of that. No inappropriate pictures. You never know who will see your phone by looking over your shoulder or if you sisters kid might grab your phone, you definitely do not want your niece or nephew to see that awesome butt shot you got of your significant other do you?

Do yourself and others a favor and practice cell phone etiquette not only during the rest of July (which is not much, but for every single day of the year)
You might end up having some real--great social interactions with others. Just not with me......

Happy HomeMaker Monday 6/28/14 Edition

It is Monday once again and I have failed to post throughout last week. But that is okay. I will make up for it...Or will I? 

Today I am joining in over at Diary Of A Stay at Home Mom for the Happy Homemaker Monday post: 

Breakfast time: Well I am not pointing fingers but someone was not up in time for any breakfast activities. My breakfast is Pepsi. The older boys can fend for themselves and the little one had pop-tarts. He could not wait to get those in his hands yesterday when we went to the grocery store. 

On Todays To Do List: Participate in Logans ABA therapy, gets some blogging done and maybe jump in the pool for a bit. 

The weather outside: HOT HOT HOT!! I live in Arkansas so its HOT--To be fair my weatherbug says it is only 83 outside at the moment and it is noon thirty. We are expecting it to hit 90. Arkansas summers are usually unbearable but this summer has been kind of mild. 

On the Menu this week: Am I a slacker because I do not like to cook? My Mr. Sexy(found this label on another bloggers post so I am stealing it) does most of the cooking. I like to cook in the winter..I am a crock pot addict. Anyway I know we are having stuffed pepper tonight and then Beans from my parents garden Tuesday night. Wednesday I am thinking we might go out to eat somewhere. We hardly ever do that. It would be a nice change. The rest of the week we have NO idea. We need to go grocery shopping by then. 

If I have a few minutes to myself I will: Blog of course or do some crocheting. I had been working on a blanket for the baby that we were expecting but since the miscarriage I have not picked it back up. I think I will work on it this week. It will be Logans blanket if he wants it. He carries one around with him everywhere he goes anyway so maybe he would choose this one to carry. 

In the garden: Tomatoes are still not ripening on our vines and my cucumbers look pitiful. I just dont think we have the right dirt here for it. But on the other end, my parents garden...Its abundant in produce. 

Favorite Photo from Camera:

Logan dove into this ice cream on Saturday. He has never ever even had an interest in ice cream before!! We were so proud of him. Whether he does this again we shall see!!

Sunday Social--All 3's

1. 3 Favorite songs right now

I do not know what it is about this song but every time it comes on the radio I have to turn it up. Dark Horse

I have been in a Aerosmith mood here lately and this is one of my most favorite songs by them! By the way I LOVE LOVE Steven Tyler- Sweet Emotion

This is my song to my honey! I Wont Give Up On You

2. 3 Favorite movies that remind you of Summer
I will honestly say I have never been watching a movie and say "Oh this reminds me of summer!!" So as you can imagine I had to sit and think about it for a minute. 
Grown Ups- the first and the second one. They both have either a waterpark, lake or swimming pool in them movie. Waterboy- football practice starts in the summer right? And since I am on an Adam Sandler kick the next movie is Billy Madison-If you have seen it then you know why I think of summer. I do not think there is a cold day in the movie and lots and lots of him being out by the pool. 

3. 3 Favorite articles of clothing you own 
My Bazinga Shirt
My Duck Dynasty warm fleece pj bottoms (they are packed up for the summer though)
My Socks! Always have to have them on when I am not wearing flip flops. I even sleep with them on. 

4. 3 Items on your wish list
I really do not require much or want much come to think of it. If I had to choose I would say, another tattoo,more pajamas,(I love my lounging clothes more than you can imagine) and more hero shirts (I think I am becoming a geek)

5. 3 Books you would recommend to someone
The Hunger Games series of course, John Grishams- A Painted House and that is all..I am not much of a reader. Can you tell?

Yummy Potato Salad!

So I was doing my normal blog reading and came across this potato salad recipe. She called it Grandmas Potato Salad. You can find her original recipe here at Meatloaf and Melodrama. It sounded really good and we have a ton of potatoes we need to find something to do with. This was perfect but we added a few more things to it.

Ingredients
10 good sized red potatoes (small to medium)
2 stalks of celery (we used about 3 to 4)
2 hard boiled eggs (we used 3)
Mayonnaise (not miracle whip)
Salt and Pepper to taste
What we added
Bacon
Cheese
Red onion 
Add however much you want! 
I love love cheese so we added about 1/2 a cup and of course who does not like bacon so we added about 4 thick cut slices of it.

To prepare just really takes common sense
Peel your potatoes boil them, cool them, cut them up
chop up the celery
chop up the bacon after frying
peel and chop up the eggs and red onion
Mix it all together. 
Add as much mayo as you like as well as the cheese.
There you go you have some great tasting potato salad. I am not waiting for it to cool to eat with dinner tonight. I of course did some sample tasting so I know it is good stuff. 

I want to say thank you to Dee for this recipe! You can find her at the link I provided above! 

Bean Picking Time--Its the Simple Things In Life

Sometimes its the simple things that can take a humans breath away. Nothing that costs a million dollars, extravagant vacations, fancy cars or houses. In other words "keeping up with the Joneses or these days its more like keeping up with the Kardashians.  

This weekend we got back to basics. We seem to do that when we visit my parents. Not only is it being with family but the things we do as a family. For some reason seeing the kids and my Eric participate in something that I did every year of my childhood brought a smile to my face. And of course I had to break out the camera! 

It was day with no electronics, no phones or anything of that. The kids and Eric did learn a thing or two about growing and harvesting your own food! Eric also learned a few terms of the south I guess you could say. We were picking the green beans which were on their last leg and produced about all they could. It was either my sister or my dad that said "There is enough there for a good mess." Eric of course gets the puzzled look on his face and asks me "Ok let me pretend that I am from the city and I have no idea what was just said, what in the heck is a mess." We all look at him like he is crazy and I bust out laughing. For those of you that don't know what this term means, it means you have enough for a meal....Showing my family how our family functioned while growing up makes me feel like I am accomplishing something. I think it is an important skill to know how to grow, harvest and cook your own food! 

Its Bean Picking Time

The New and Improved Pinto Bean

Even Gizzy got in on the action but got tired really quickly

Your not being a kid right unless you get dirty!

After all the work done we enjoyed just chatting under a shade tree while momma "shelled the beans" or "removed them from the pods." The kids ran around with water guns and played in the pool a bit. It was a perfect Saturday and it was all simple! The simple things in life take my breath away. Now its all back to the normal hustle and bustle of the week! Have a great one everyone. 


Linking with
Simple as That for-Simple Things Sunday
Shine the Divine for I heart Macro

Our 4th of July

Our 4th of July was simple. Which of course is the way I like it. We were not sure if Eric would have to work or not so we were not set in plans. He did have to work on the holiday but was off the following day so we could go up to my parents house. 

Those were always my favorite memories. We never did anything huge and fancy but simple and fun. I want my kids to learn to enjoy these things as well. No sense in going all out and spending tons of money to enjoy the holiday. 

We bought a handful of things such as bottle rockets, smoke bombs, sprinklers and things like that. No big deal and my mom picked up a few things and supplied the food. Eric cooked some chicken and steaks, baked potatoes and corn. Mom picked up sides. She doesn't like to cook much. I do not have a big family or tons of friends to where we have huge gatherings so it does not take much to feed us. 

We were concerned how Logan would react. He does have autism and can be sensitive to certain things. Last year he covered his eyes the entire time. We passed on a family gathering and just attended a local fireworks shown instead. So this year we thought he may react the same. To our surprise he did not! He loved loved the booms! He may not have had issues with the sight because we were not at a huge display. Not sure though but he did very well and we were all so proud of him. 

I ran off and forgot to charge my batteries to my camera so we did not get many great pictures. It died at night. 

After the night was over I asked the kids if they had fun, I got a really loud "oh yeah!" They said it was the best 4th they have had. These are my step kids answering this. I asked them if they had to choose between a huge show or going to my parents every year and shooting off small ones what they would choose. They chose my parents! 

How did you spend your 4th?

What Makes Me Feel Beautiful--Wordless Wednesday 07/16/14

There is a "challenge" going on around Facebook. You are to pick 5 photos that you feel beautiful in. 
I am not that self confident so I had my SO choose them for me. 

He had a hard time just sticking with 5 so he chose 6!
I thought this is the perfect Wordless Wednesday photo!

Linking up with
Such A Mama
Home of OHM
5 minutes for Mom
In Him We Live and Move
Clair Justine OXOX

I Now Have 2 Angel Babies

Miscarriage- Premature end of a pregnancy before the developing fetus is able to survive outside the womb. Also referred to as a "spontaneous abortion" (Medical Definition)

Miscarriage- The loss of a baby during pregnancy (Non Medical Definition)

There are different  types of miscarriages 
Blighted Ovum
Ecotopic Pregnancy
Molar Pregnancy
Missed Miscarriage
Complete Miscarriage
Incomplete Miscarriage
(I am sure there are more)

Finding statistics on miscarriage is easy but its almost all different. My doctor says 1 out of every 4 pregnancies end in miscarriage. My latest statistic is 2/3, altogether 3/5. I know the statistics could be worse and others have suffered many more losses than I have. Either way it still hurts. 

I experienced my first loss in September 17th of 2008. I do not remember every extensive detail but remember enough to tell the story. When I found out I was pregnant I was ecstatic and told everyone including my boss at work. I was very early on in my pregnancy and figured I should have waited to say anything but my excitement took the best of me. It took 6 months to get pregnant with this baby and that was fast so I was happy. I had some pregnancy symptoms such as breast tenderness and breakouts but nothing else really. I had been 7 years since I was last pregnant. I remember symptoms being more strong. I thought something was not right but ignored it. About a week after I had announced my pregnancy I started having some mild cramping. I had an ultrasound (u/s)  and bloodwork to check my HCG levels. The results of the u/s sowed I was off my dates. I was told not to worry. They scheduled an u/s at the hospital to take a better look. Before I went to that appointment the blood work showed that my progesterone levels were low. I was was of course prescribed the hormrone. I went in for my 2nd u/s. The tech of course did not say anything about the findings. I am not sure how long it took for my doctor to call me with the results but it seemed like days. The nurses words were "You have been diagnosed with a blighted ovum" (this happens when a fertilized egg attaches to the uterine wall, but the embryo does not develop). My heart sank. I googled everything until my doctors appointment the next day. I read many stories of misdiagnosed miscarriages and had hope this was one. I asked for yet another u/s in hopes there had been more development. The results showed the opposite. Things were shrinking. I was given my options. 1) Wait and let my body miscarry on its own. 2) Take a pill to speed the natural process along or 3) Get a D&C or what is called a dilation and curettage. I chose the D&C. I just wanted it to be over. September 17th 2008 was the day of my procedure. The tears went rolling when they put the mask on then I was out. My recovery was very easy physically. I barely cramped and almost no bleeding. It took time to recover emotionally but I did for the most part. It will always hurt but easier. I will always have questions. June 2010 I got my next positive pregnancy test result. It took almost 2 years to be able to conceive Logan but I finally did. He was born February 12th, 2011. 

My second loss. July 2014. This pregnancy was a complete surprise. Eric had a vasectomy and I was on the pill for my PMDD. I had asked Eric to test his fertility so I could come to terms that I would never have another baby. He agreed and purchased a sperm check test. It sat in our bathroom for a bit. Logan had surgery and I was so busy I just did not refill my BC pill. Why worry to much? Eric had a vasectomy. About 2 weeks later Eric took the test and we got a positive result. Oh my what a surprise!! Should we try to have a baby? Should I refill my prescription? While we were trying to figure out whether we wanted to try to conceive, we already had!! I thought I was starting my period. It lasted a day and was very light and colored almost like old blood. I started getting dizzy and had sore breasts. I googled implantation bleeding all night and sent Eric for a home pregnancy test the next day. He thought I was crazy! I thought I was crazy!! No way this happened within two weeks of being off birth control. It took me 2 years to get pregnancy with Logan. 
Our test came back positive. All five test said I was pregnant. There were no words to describe the joy that over came me. Eric on the other hand was shocked. Not excited, not mad but shocked. My first appointment, June 17th 2014, we had our first u/s. Not much was seen. It was to early of course. The doctor said I was about 4.5 weeks along. We scheduled another appointment 10 days out. In the meantime I noticed the only symptoms I was having was breast soreness and breaking out. To much like my previous blighted ovum. I just did not feel pregnant...Next u/s, June 27th, 2014, there was progress. I now had a gestational sac and what was the beginning of a yolk sac. I was measuring to be around 5 to 6 weeks along. I still was not fully at ease but the doctor seemed very optimistic. Once again I was told I probably ovulated late and was off on my dates. Another u/s was scheduled for another 10 days out. In the meantime Eric wanted to pick baby names, so we did. I did not reveal our choices to much of anyone and still will not reveal them. Eric was getting more and more excited. He even posted the u/s picture up on facebook captioned with "first look at baby" His excitement was growing as well as mine. This was meant to be! We were meant to have this baby with the way it all happened. I still had not developed any more pregnancy symptoms.
July 7th 2014, my next appointment, my next u/s. I was very nervous attended this one on my own. I told Eric if it was good news I would not call but if it was bad news I would call him. Obviously I had my doubts. I once again had progressed. There was a gestational sac and now a beautiful round yolk sac. That was it. A small embryo maybe. But the doctor was not positive. Almost all the optimism was wiped off his face but he refused to tell me any bad news but I felt it. I knew in my heart it was over. It was all to good to be true. The next step was blood work. 
I drove home in tears. Consequently it was storming out. When I got home I called Eric even though I did not have bad news but I did not have good news either. I just needed to cry to him, even if he was not there. My heart was breaking. How could this happen again? Eric began asking me so many questions I did not have answers to. When he got home we both called and talked to the nurse together. She assured us that this was NOT a blighted ovum. She put a lot of worries at ease. I still knew it wasn't right. I was praying for waves of nausea to come over me, to be become so tired I could not function. The nurse was concerned about my blood work. My HCG levels were low, around 23,000 but without a second reading it was just a number. I was scheduled to go back on Wednesday, another 48 hours later. 
Eric went with me this time. We went first thing in the morning so we could be sure that the results would be back by the end of the day. The wait was nerve wrecking! Eric was optimistic so I tried to be that way even though I knew. I have always known. The phone rang, my heart raced and I started shaking. I did not want to answer the phone. I did not want to hear bad news. I of course had to answer because Eric refused. The nurses voice was very sympathetic and my heart stopped. "Its not good is it?" She said " I am sorry but the levels only rose 1,000, we should have seen these numbers double" I began to cry and handed the phone off to Eric while she was telling me my options. I knew it.....I knew this was to good to be true. I could not believe it. Again...all over again. She even asked if I knew what a blighted ovum was? I just wanted to yell at her! Had she not read my chart??? I already had an appointment for Friday so we decided we would just keep that appointment, get one more u/s and make a decision then. Eric did not want to believe it. He still had hope. We both made the mistake and lived on google for the next 24 hours! We found so many miracle stories and contradicting information. Lots of questions came across our minds. I was trying to hold onto a small ounce of hope. Eric wasnt ready to give up. We read that as long as the numbers rose and did not fall that there was hope, anything over 6,000 could take up to 96 hours to double, some people just have low hormone levels, uterus being tilted back could make the heart beat hard to see, Doctors had recommended a D&C but people had ignored this and went on to have healthy babies that could have ended due to a D&C.....Could we have a miracle happen? Could this happen to someone like me and Eric?? I knew it was over but sill prayed for a miracle. I prayed if it was viable to let me have all the miserable pregnancy symptoms to come over me at once and if not then just let me miscarry...make it happen. The next day I started cramping and having some light spotting. It was real, it was happening. I even showed Eric and told him this was it. We were not getting that miracle. We both cried......Then I knew I wanted a D&C. I did not want to go through this. I did not want the painful cramps, the awful bleeding and the passing of everything. I could not handle it emotionally. I needed closure and needed to be able to move on. 
Eric still wanted another u/s so we had one the following morning. Friday July 11th 2014. Everything was starting to detach. It was happening. A D&C was scheduled for the next day. Saturday. My doctor happened to be on call and could do the surgery. Eric and I were sent home to deal with our emotions. I was o.k., I had already knew it was coming. Up to this point I had already cried so many tears I was cried out. I had become numb and just wanted to move on. The miracle baby was no longer existent. Like I said, it was all to good to be true. Eric on the other hand got his confirmation and was now angry. Angry at the fact that individuals can pop babies out left and right and we lost ours. He genuinely was excited and wanted this baby that he once was not so sure he was even ready for. His excitement had been building up everyday. His heart was broken as well. We had to break our news to everyone, even the kids were saddened by the news.  

Saturday morning arrived and we were ready. I was fine until I was pushed out of recovery into my room to finish recovering. Everyone left the room and I broke down and tears began to fall once again. It was done, my baby was gone. Eric just held me while I sobbed. We are now back home and trying to recover and move on. It may sound cold hearted but we think its best for us but we have deleted pictures, discarded the u/s pictures. I even started crocheting a blanket for baby but that will now be a new blanket for Logan made his mommy. Emotionally this has taken a toll on us. We are suffering..I am hoping it passes. Both of us are angry and taking it out on each other. Physically my recovery has been a little more rough than the first. I was told because there was more "contents" in my uterus.(horrible way for the nurse to put it) I was further along. I have had more pain, more bleeding, more fatigue and more stress. This to I hope passes. Whether or not we will try again is up in the air. I am scared to try. Most miscarriages are said to be caused by chromosomal issues or by low hormone levels. I have now suffered through 2 losses. Logan was born in between these two losses and he has autism and a chromosome deletion. Naturally I now blame myself for the losses and for Logans disability. Everyone says not to blame myself but its almost impossible with these facts staring me in the face. Its hard to be confident in my reproductive capabilities. As time moves on and Eric and I get pass the anger, we will figure out our next move. 

I now have two angel babies! 

How Is My Garden Growing?

Well Ill be honest, its not really a garden. It is just two cucumber plants and two tomato plants. Yellow tomato for my Eric and a normal one for me and a Lemon cucumber for him and a normal one for me :-) About a month ago all my plants almost drowned. I have awful drainage and it rained for days. I saved them and now they are beautiful. There is just something about checking on them everyday and seeing new growth. I can not wait until they start producing!!

Linking up with
No Rules Weekend Blog Party
What Has Made Me Happy This Week?