Good morning all! Its Friday! What a week its been. Its the week after Christmas, Christmas was Sunday. Tuesday Carson had testing, Wednesday I had a scheduled appointment with Case Management for Caleb, Carson and Connor but she is awesome and allowed us to reschedule so we could go to a play date. Thursday Caleb, Cody and Carson had counseling down in Livermore Falls, in 45 min. increments X3! That was horrible and I will not do it again! The younger ones got bored fast and we got spoke to about the noise twice! ugh! Then we came home from that and almost immediately had an appointment with Assistance Plus, Carson's BHP supervisor. Then today Friday, I have an 11:45 with the case manager I rescheduled for our Wednesday playdate! Its so much! but I wouldn't know what to change or give up. Obviously I will not schedulue 3 appointments back to back, I was thinking I would get them out of the way with, but other than that not sure what to give up! I really do need case Management to help in getting my children the services they need, and Carson's BHP is worth her weight in gold! She has been so amazing! Counseling could of waited till next week when there in school, but i thought where Christmas can accentuate there dissabilities, I would have them go. Carson's eval was necessary, although we now know he IS NOT on the Autism spectrum, we are not any further in the process than when we started in October! and have another appointment schudled for January 16th, hopefully will have an idea of diagnosis and treatment at that time!
So its been a little busy around here!
Friday, December 30, 2011
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Budget Friendly Recipes...
Easy crock pot Chili:
This recipe is great for a busy night, put it in the crock pot in the morning on low and it will be ready to go for supper! You do not need a crock pot for this recipe, if your not in a hurry just put all ingredients in a pot and cook till desired doneness! (the chili seasoning melds better into the Chili the longer it cooks)
Meat: Anything you have. I have used hamburg, sausage and ground turkey. You can also combine them. Approx. 1 1/2 lbs. Depends on how meaty you want it!
2 big cans of diced tomatoes
2 cans tomato soup
2 cans of kidney beans or any you have to use up.
Chili Powder, as much as you like
Salt and Pepper
We put shredded Cheddar cheese on the top of it!
Brown the meat and drain any fat. Put in crock pot, add all the other ingredients, mix and put crock pot on low.
Delicious corn bread:
Mix in a bowl:
2 1/2 cups flour, I usually use 1 cup of whole wheat flour and 1 1/2 all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups corn meal
1/2 cup sugar
4 tsp of baking powder
1 tsp. salt
In a separate bowl mix:
1 cup of milk
1/2 cup veg. or canola oil
2 eggs, beaten (i usually beat them in the bowl first and add the other wet ingredients, as not to dirty another dish!)
Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix, don't over mix. Then the secret ingredient. Fold in a whole can of cream corn!
Pore into a greased 9X13 pan and cook for 25 min. at 400*F
This whole meal cost around 15.00 and the next day we have the left over chili over tortilla chips with Cheddar cheese and sour cream.
YUM!
Quick and easy Pumpkin muffins:
Mix in one bowl:
1 cup of a solid fat such as butter, margarine or Crisco (I get the best results from Crisco)
2 cups sugar
Cream together then add:
3 eggs mix then add:
1 can of pumpkin
In another bowl mix together and whisk or sift:
4 cups of flour, I usually do 1/2 whole wheat flour.
4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. Ground Ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. You can add anything you want such as Chocolate chips (my kids fave!), raisins, nuts or mix of each! I've also added chopped apples!
Cook at 350 for 15-20 minutes, depending on size of your muffins. You can also make it into quick bread, just keep and eye out for doneness.
Healthy easy homemade pancakes:
In a bowl beat up 2 eggs, then add:
2 cups milk
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla
In another bowl mix and sift or whisk (i always just whisk)
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup white (I use unbleached) flour
1/2 cup sugar
4 tsp. of baking powder
1 tsp of salt
Mix the dry ingredients with the wet and whisk just till combined.
You can add anything you like. Such as:
Blueberries
Strawberries
Mini Chocolate chips
Raspberries
Mashed bananas
Flax seed
Wheat germ
chopped apples (I add a pink of cinnamon also)
The possibilities are endless!
Easy Cheese Raviolis:
1 pkg. of cheese raviolis
1 can Hunts Spaghetti sauce
Parmesan cheese
Mix the raviolis and sauce in a casserole dish (no need to cook them first, although you could if you wanted) and top with he Parmesan cheese and bake about 30 min. at 350.
I served these with Brussel sprouts and homemade garlic toast.
Easy inexpensive Garlic Toast:
Anything you have for leftover bread, such as sandwich bread, hamburger rolls, hot dog rolls, bagels, english muffins ect.
Margarine or butter (softened)
Garlic Powder (as much as you like for flavor)
Salt, couple pinches
Mix the butter with Garlic Powder and salt in a dish. Spread on your choice of bread and broil for just a few minutes. (watch closely, you don't want it to burn).
hint: you could use Garlic Salt if that's all you have, I do not because I find it to salty!
Quick, easy and cheap American Chop Suey:
1 lb of Hamburg
1 onion
1 large can of diced tomatoes
2 cans of tomato soup
Salt, pepper and any other seasonings you like.
Fry the hamburg and onion, drain off fat, and add all other ingredients. Mix with aprox. 2 cups (before cooking) of macaroni, or other noodles you have.
This recipe makes enough to feed my family of 8 of a cost of about 6.50!!!!! I serve it with green beans and buttered bread. And its one of the few meals my whole family loves!
Quick and easy Reduced Fat Strawberry muffins:
I 1/2 pint Apple Butter or the equivalent apple sauce (If using apple sauce you will need to add about 1/2-3/4 cup of sugar)
2 eggs
1 Tsp vanilla
Mix this till blended.
add:
1 container of frozen strawberries, about 2 cups
Mix and then add:
2 cups flour ( I use 1/2 whole wheat/white)
2 tsp. Baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
Mix till combined. cook at 350 for about 12 min.
ENJOY!
Easy Muffins:
1 cup of a solid fat, such as Crisco, margarine or butter. I almost always use butter.
2 cups sugar
Cream together, then add:
4 eggs (you can get away with 3)
2 tsp. of vanilla
Beat to combine, then add one of the following:
Bananas (6 crushed)
or 2 cups the following:
Apple Sauce
Pear Sauce
Crushed Strawberries
Pumpkin or squash puree
Then add:
4 cups flour
4tsp. baking soda
1 tsp salt
and 1/2 to 1 tsp. any spices you like. such as cinn, all spice, ginger, nutmeg ect.
Bake at 350 for about 12 min, watch different ingredients cause different cooking times. This recipe makes at least 24 muffins. You can scale it down by 1/2 if you don't need that many.
Note: You can also add any extras. Such as diced apples, blueberries, raspberries, chocolate chips, nuts, ect. Just fold them into the finished recipe.
This recipe is great for a busy night, put it in the crock pot in the morning on low and it will be ready to go for supper! You do not need a crock pot for this recipe, if your not in a hurry just put all ingredients in a pot and cook till desired doneness! (the chili seasoning melds better into the Chili the longer it cooks)
Meat: Anything you have. I have used hamburg, sausage and ground turkey. You can also combine them. Approx. 1 1/2 lbs. Depends on how meaty you want it!
2 big cans of diced tomatoes
2 cans tomato soup
2 cans of kidney beans or any you have to use up.
Chili Powder, as much as you like
Salt and Pepper
We put shredded Cheddar cheese on the top of it!
Brown the meat and drain any fat. Put in crock pot, add all the other ingredients, mix and put crock pot on low.
Delicious corn bread:
Mix in a bowl:
2 1/2 cups flour, I usually use 1 cup of whole wheat flour and 1 1/2 all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups corn meal
1/2 cup sugar
4 tsp of baking powder
1 tsp. salt
In a separate bowl mix:
1 cup of milk
1/2 cup veg. or canola oil
2 eggs, beaten (i usually beat them in the bowl first and add the other wet ingredients, as not to dirty another dish!)
Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix, don't over mix. Then the secret ingredient. Fold in a whole can of cream corn!
Pore into a greased 9X13 pan and cook for 25 min. at 400*F
This whole meal cost around 15.00 and the next day we have the left over chili over tortilla chips with Cheddar cheese and sour cream.
YUM!
Quick and easy Pumpkin muffins:
Mix in one bowl:
1 cup of a solid fat such as butter, margarine or Crisco (I get the best results from Crisco)
2 cups sugar
Cream together then add:
3 eggs mix then add:
1 can of pumpkin
In another bowl mix together and whisk or sift:
4 cups of flour, I usually do 1/2 whole wheat flour.
4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. Ground Ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. You can add anything you want such as Chocolate chips (my kids fave!), raisins, nuts or mix of each! I've also added chopped apples!
Cook at 350 for 15-20 minutes, depending on size of your muffins. You can also make it into quick bread, just keep and eye out for doneness.
Healthy easy homemade pancakes:
In a bowl beat up 2 eggs, then add:
2 cups milk
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla
In another bowl mix and sift or whisk (i always just whisk)
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup white (I use unbleached) flour
1/2 cup sugar
4 tsp. of baking powder
1 tsp of salt
Mix the dry ingredients with the wet and whisk just till combined.
You can add anything you like. Such as:
Blueberries
Strawberries
Mini Chocolate chips
Raspberries
Mashed bananas
Flax seed
Wheat germ
chopped apples (I add a pink of cinnamon also)
The possibilities are endless!
Easy Cheese Raviolis:
1 pkg. of cheese raviolis
1 can Hunts Spaghetti sauce
Parmesan cheese
Mix the raviolis and sauce in a casserole dish (no need to cook them first, although you could if you wanted) and top with he Parmesan cheese and bake about 30 min. at 350.
I served these with Brussel sprouts and homemade garlic toast.
Easy inexpensive Garlic Toast:
Anything you have for leftover bread, such as sandwich bread, hamburger rolls, hot dog rolls, bagels, english muffins ect.
Margarine or butter (softened)
Garlic Powder (as much as you like for flavor)
Salt, couple pinches
Mix the butter with Garlic Powder and salt in a dish. Spread on your choice of bread and broil for just a few minutes. (watch closely, you don't want it to burn).
hint: you could use Garlic Salt if that's all you have, I do not because I find it to salty!
Quick, easy and cheap American Chop Suey:
1 lb of Hamburg
1 onion
1 large can of diced tomatoes
2 cans of tomato soup
Salt, pepper and any other seasonings you like.
Fry the hamburg and onion, drain off fat, and add all other ingredients. Mix with aprox. 2 cups (before cooking) of macaroni, or other noodles you have.
This recipe makes enough to feed my family of 8 of a cost of about 6.50!!!!! I serve it with green beans and buttered bread. And its one of the few meals my whole family loves!
Quick and easy Reduced Fat Strawberry muffins:
I 1/2 pint Apple Butter or the equivalent apple sauce (If using apple sauce you will need to add about 1/2-3/4 cup of sugar)
2 eggs
1 Tsp vanilla
Mix this till blended.
add:
1 container of frozen strawberries, about 2 cups
Mix and then add:
2 cups flour ( I use 1/2 whole wheat/white)
2 tsp. Baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
Mix till combined. cook at 350 for about 12 min.
ENJOY!
Easy Muffins:
1 cup of a solid fat, such as Crisco, margarine or butter. I almost always use butter.
2 cups sugar
Cream together, then add:
4 eggs (you can get away with 3)
2 tsp. of vanilla
Beat to combine, then add one of the following:
Bananas (6 crushed)
or 2 cups the following:
Apple Sauce
Pear Sauce
Crushed Strawberries
Pumpkin or squash puree
Then add:
4 cups flour
4tsp. baking soda
1 tsp salt
and 1/2 to 1 tsp. any spices you like. such as cinn, all spice, ginger, nutmeg ect.
Bake at 350 for about 12 min, watch different ingredients cause different cooking times. This recipe makes at least 24 muffins. You can scale it down by 1/2 if you don't need that many.
Note: You can also add any extras. Such as diced apples, blueberries, raspberries, chocolate chips, nuts, ect. Just fold them into the finished recipe.
Waste not want not!
I remember hearing this as kid! My grandparents, who were raised through the depression, saved everything! I know I can not save everything nor would I want too! However it is time that we start paying attention to how much we waste. Not just my family of 8 but us as a Country. We are very wasteful.
We have no dishwasher, so supper dishes can be a little ridiculous. LOL! So I started buying paper plates and cups a while ago, but there is so much trash after supper? Also cleaning up the table after supper made me realize how much food we waste!
I had the kids come back and finish there milk, and the babies never touched there Chili so I put it in a to go (reusable) container for Terry to take for lunch.
If the milk has sat out to long I use it to make Pancakes or muffins. I keep a jar (that I've recycled) in the fridge and keep filling it till I have enough milk to make pancakes.
I also am going to start with smaller portions at meal time. Its healthier and they can always have more if there still hungry.
I'm going to put together a list of inexpensive, time saving recipes soon. Last night we had Chili which was delicious but didn't hold a candle to the rockin' awesome corn bread i made! I'll tell my awesome cost friendly secret in my next blog!
Wishing everyone happy savings!
We have no dishwasher, so supper dishes can be a little ridiculous. LOL! So I started buying paper plates and cups a while ago, but there is so much trash after supper? Also cleaning up the table after supper made me realize how much food we waste!
I had the kids come back and finish there milk, and the babies never touched there Chili so I put it in a to go (reusable) container for Terry to take for lunch.
If the milk has sat out to long I use it to make Pancakes or muffins. I keep a jar (that I've recycled) in the fridge and keep filling it till I have enough milk to make pancakes.
I also am going to start with smaller portions at meal time. Its healthier and they can always have more if there still hungry.
I'm going to put together a list of inexpensive, time saving recipes soon. Last night we had Chili which was delicious but didn't hold a candle to the rockin' awesome corn bread i made! I'll tell my awesome cost friendly secret in my next blog!
Wishing everyone happy savings!
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Bring on 2012!!!!
I am so ready for 2012! It has been a a very sad, stressful 2011! I am really looking forward to my new ventures! One being consistently living a more frugal lifestyle, saving more, spending less, and hopefully discovering new and exciting ways to save money! My family of 8 currently lives in a small 1,900 square foot home with one toilet! We need a bigger house! It isn't ever going to happen if I can not find a way to save more money and pay off some current debt!
Roughly translated: momma needs to get organized! I am thinking of trying mint.com for budget software, I'll let everyone know how i like it!
The real unfortunate part of saving money and spending less, is I have to give up some things I really enjoy! Like my keurig, Internet on my cell phone, eating out, anything convenient, Dunkin Donuts coffee, ect.
I have struggled in the past with "sticking to it!" so I am truly hoping to give it all Ive got this time around! There has never been a better time to jump in feet first! The economy is horrible right now! Families like Terry and mine are truly stuck in the lower middle class muddle!
A few more days before the hammer comes down on the new year, but I have already started my slow recovery process! Now to make some hard decisions.
Happy 2012 to everyone and hope everyone had a great Christmas!
Roughly translated: momma needs to get organized! I am thinking of trying mint.com for budget software, I'll let everyone know how i like it!
The real unfortunate part of saving money and spending less, is I have to give up some things I really enjoy! Like my keurig, Internet on my cell phone, eating out, anything convenient, Dunkin Donuts coffee, ect.
I have struggled in the past with "sticking to it!" so I am truly hoping to give it all Ive got this time around! There has never been a better time to jump in feet first! The economy is horrible right now! Families like Terry and mine are truly stuck in the lower middle class muddle!
A few more days before the hammer comes down on the new year, but I have already started my slow recovery process! Now to make some hard decisions.
Happy 2012 to everyone and hope everyone had a great Christmas!
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Three days till Christmas!!!! YIKES!
Wow! I just realized how close Christmas is! I have 3 days, including today to get EVERYTHING done! This happens every year and every year things always eventually get done, so I' dont know why I panic the way I do! Although I do not want a repeat of last year when I was driving to moms at 11pm on Chritmas Eve to get wrapping paper and then wrapping till 2am!
I got a total of 3 presants wrapped last night before I ran out of tape! I am hoping my babysitter is available to watch the little ones today so i can get more done! I can not get anything done with them here!
I wish I had more help some days, like someone to offer to help with them, but it is what it is. I need to figure it out, if it was'nt $60 a day for childcare, I would use my babysitter more often! It really does get done, somehow! I've gotten quite creative before!
I've got to finish up my shopping today! Do the sock stuff! and hopfully finish wrapping!
Merry Christmas everyone!
I got a total of 3 presants wrapped last night before I ran out of tape! I am hoping my babysitter is available to watch the little ones today so i can get more done! I can not get anything done with them here!
I wish I had more help some days, like someone to offer to help with them, but it is what it is. I need to figure it out, if it was'nt $60 a day for childcare, I would use my babysitter more often! It really does get done, somehow! I've gotten quite creative before!
I've got to finish up my shopping today! Do the sock stuff! and hopfully finish wrapping!
Merry Christmas everyone!
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Playing with Layout and Design!
I am trying to make my blog look more pretty! I really really (I know, youve heard it a 100 times!) going to try and blog more after the Holidays! I really really want to! I love sharing about my crazy life! I also hope to start including money saving tips, recipes and tips on raising a large family in this economy! Who knows maybe i will even learn something! (I hope so! LOL)
Happy Holidays all!
Happy Holidays all!
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Adoption Day!!!!
Monday November 14th, we adopted our daughter Cathryn Darlene Greenleaf! She is our 6th child, 3rd adoption and she completes our family! Cathryn came into our family August 5th, 2010 at 4 weeks old! She is tiny but happy and healthy! We are so happy and I feel very content!
We have decided to be done doing foster care. It was a hard decision but I feel very good about it! I feel like I can do 6 kids well, and I want to keep it that way! I will post more later, with some pics of adoption day. Right now i'm headed to get Conny and Carly at pre-school.
We have decided to be done doing foster care. It was a hard decision but I feel very good about it! I feel like I can do 6 kids well, and I want to keep it that way! I will post more later, with some pics of adoption day. Right now i'm headed to get Conny and Carly at pre-school.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Good Morning, its been awhile....AGAIN!
Well its 6:18 am and I'm bound and determined to write something! LOL! Carson lost his first tooth! What an experience, nothing like helping a child with sensory issues pull out a "barely hanging on by a thread tooth!" and then excited for the tooth fairy to come only for him to get all anxious about the tooth fairy coming while hes asleep! Oh, poor Carson!
I've been doing pretty good at trying to save money and be more conscious of our amount of waste! Its such a learning process, and I still don't get a lot of support!
I did make my first batch of homemade Chocolate syrup! I didn't think it came out bad at all, as a matter of fact i prefer it! but Carson didn't like it!, I'm thinking of making small canning jars of it for Christmas presents!
Ive been hanging laundry all over my bedroom, I'm still looking for a clothes drying rack! a friend of mine is giving me her cloth diapers, this journey I'm not exactally looking forward too, but kind of excited to try it!
Anyway i must go get the kids ready for the bus! Have a great day all!
Oh, I cant believe I forgot to mention this! Cathryn's adoption is Monday the 14th! woo-hoo! I can't wait till shes ALL ours! She has truly blessed us!
I've been doing pretty good at trying to save money and be more conscious of our amount of waste! Its such a learning process, and I still don't get a lot of support!
I did make my first batch of homemade Chocolate syrup! I didn't think it came out bad at all, as a matter of fact i prefer it! but Carson didn't like it!, I'm thinking of making small canning jars of it for Christmas presents!
Ive been hanging laundry all over my bedroom, I'm still looking for a clothes drying rack! a friend of mine is giving me her cloth diapers, this journey I'm not exactally looking forward too, but kind of excited to try it!
Anyway i must go get the kids ready for the bus! Have a great day all!
Oh, I cant believe I forgot to mention this! Cathryn's adoption is Monday the 14th! woo-hoo! I can't wait till shes ALL ours! She has truly blessed us!
Sunday, October 23, 2011
The start of a more thrifty, frugle, cost efficiant lifestyle...
Well we (well mostly I, lol) are trying to live more cost effective. We have been forced recently in figuring out how to live on less and more within our means. What I discovered in this time was, why is it that the only time we think to live more frugally is when were broke or low on funds? Why not live like that all the time so those moments dont sneak up on us? Hmmm.
Theres many components to this lifestyle and Im just beginning so it will take years to perfect, but I feel really good about this and want very badly to give it my all!
I dont like feeling so vulnerable, its a scary feeling to get too low on money. I know we can be better with money and a lot more self sufficient if we put our minds too it!
I hope to share some ideas ive discovered and am working on.
One major change came recently when I decided to stop buying overly processed convenience foods. Three of our children have diagnosed mental health disorders and a diet free of preservatives, dyes and additives is proven to help them, and I figure its just a much more healthy way to live! Well my original thought was it was going to be so expensive, well I have found I have cut my food bill by 30% right now and continue to work on it! I make almost everything from scratch, at first it was a lot more time consuming but its getting easier everyday! I cook a lot at once and refrigerate extra for another meal.
I keep all reusable containers for leftovers.
The library is a GREAT resource!
I made a triple batch of healthy pancakes and froze the rest in ziplock bags for a quick healthy breakfast, then I reuse the ziplock bags.
I hang up all my laundry after figuring that it cost between 70-90 cents to dry each load of laundry! Times that by 3-4 loads per day and its quite a savings!
Theres many more but its 11pm and I must get every ones stuff ready for a busy monday morning!
Ill be back!
Theres many components to this lifestyle and Im just beginning so it will take years to perfect, but I feel really good about this and want very badly to give it my all!
I dont like feeling so vulnerable, its a scary feeling to get too low on money. I know we can be better with money and a lot more self sufficient if we put our minds too it!
I hope to share some ideas ive discovered and am working on.
One major change came recently when I decided to stop buying overly processed convenience foods. Three of our children have diagnosed mental health disorders and a diet free of preservatives, dyes and additives is proven to help them, and I figure its just a much more healthy way to live! Well my original thought was it was going to be so expensive, well I have found I have cut my food bill by 30% right now and continue to work on it! I make almost everything from scratch, at first it was a lot more time consuming but its getting easier everyday! I cook a lot at once and refrigerate extra for another meal.
I keep all reusable containers for leftovers.
The library is a GREAT resource!
I made a triple batch of healthy pancakes and froze the rest in ziplock bags for a quick healthy breakfast, then I reuse the ziplock bags.
I hang up all my laundry after figuring that it cost between 70-90 cents to dry each load of laundry! Times that by 3-4 loads per day and its quite a savings!
Theres many more but its 11pm and I must get every ones stuff ready for a busy monday morning!
Ill be back!
Monday, October 17, 2011
Wow, It has been so long since I've blogged on here! And have things changed since my last post! We have another child for one! Her name is Cathryn and she came August 5th 2010 at 4 weeks old. We are now in the process of adopting her and hopefully it will be done by Christmas. She is so amazing! Shes such a peanut, shes 15 months and only 29 inches tall and 20 lbs. but she doesn't miss a beat! Her brothers and sister love her so much! We named her Cathryn Darlene after my mom. On a much more sad note, my sister in law and great friend Tracy lost her long battle with cancer on Sept. 15th 2011. She was 42 years old! It was so hard for all of us. She has two children, Travis 17 and Tara 15, I see so much of her in them! Thank goodness they live right next door and have a wonderful dad and we will all be together. Caleb is 14 and everything a boy his age should be. Sassy, knows everything, unpredictable, I could go on but I wont! I will say he is still a loving and kind young man when he sets his mind to it! Cody is 10 he will be 11 next month. He is as smart as ever! He has taken up playing the sax and loves it! He went to the Dempsey challenge with Mike and the kids, he met Patrick Dempsey (who he did a report on as a famous Maine person, in 4th grade) and was so excited! Carson is 6 and oh how active he is! He did early K last year so this year he started Kindergarten. He is defiantly struggling with some things, he has fairly classic ADHD symptoms, sitting still, keeping his hands to himself, transitioning ect. We have an exciting appointment coming up with Dr. Iris Silverstien a developmental pediatrician. Our son Connor started seeing her last year and I really love her and her views. Carson is such a genuine boy, so full of life and happy! Connor will be 4 next month, he is just so wonderful. So happy yet hes gaining some independent ideas. He was diagnosed 6 months ago with PDD which is Pervasive Developmental Disorder which is on the Autism spectrum. He is starting to really talk and using 3-5 word sentences which is such a huge improvement for him! He has a great support team, including his Teachers at Crayon Country Developmental pre-school Miss Chris and Miss Terri and his awesome speech therapist Jenn. I am very grateful to them! Carly, oh our Carly! She just turned 3 and the princess of the house! She is such a GIRL! with all the drama that comes with it! She will even tell you shes the princess. She is very smart, she knows how to spell (out loud, not on paper quite yet) her name and most of her siblings names. Shes such a daddy's girl! She keeps us all in line! Baby Cathryn, she is an amazing baby! She is happy and healthy. She didn't have the greatest start in life and we were very worried, but our fear has been resolved! She has met all her milestones and then some! We love her and cant wait till she is a permanent part of our family! It has been a Very busy Fall! I am trying very hard to make things easier! I want to reprogram our family to include less stress and a less hectic lifestyle. A couple of major changes we have made as a family is a healthier living lifestyle! With the 3 boys disabilities we have gone to a more "natural" lifestyle. We have gratefully improved our diets to exclude overly processed food, food dyes, additives, preservatives ect. We have also started seeing a Chiropractor that concentrates on whole body wellness! We are trying to manage Carson's ADHD and SPD (sensory processing disorder) naturally and Caleb's as well. Although Caleb will be much harder because hes much older and has been controlling his Touretts, OCD and Anxiety with meds for years. He has gained a tremendous amount of weight on these meds, to the point where his health is at great risk! So we are working really hard! I have to go to bed sometime tonight, its 4 min. away from being tomorrow! I will soon get into how we are becoming more frugal and aware of money and how we need to make some major changes to our budget, this is a a newer more drastic struggle for us and I'm still a work in progress, but i hope to share with you all the things we are learning to do to eat healthy on a budget, and reduce our debt, with the uppermost desire to one day have a house and another toilet! One toilet to seven people (The baby isn't there yet! lol!) is NOT ENOUGH! Thank you to all who support me and check in on me through this blog. You are my cheering section!
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