Nothing like a good book

Everyone knows our boys love to read.  Their favorite books tend to be series.  Recently Trevor read the Mysterious Benidect Society series, and Griffin read the 39 clues series. They really enjoyed these.  I've been meaning to get a series I've heard about for awhile that I thought they might like (especially Trevor).  Thursday afternoon I went and bought the first two book in the Fabelhaven series.   Trevor has already finished the first one, and is well into the second one (Griffin is now reading the first one).  Looks like I need to go buy the rest.  We are a book buying family.  We all have bookshelves filled with books.  Someday we'd like to have a library in our home.  I love when we find something that they just can't get enough of.

Wild and crazy tooth story

This morning Griffin was sitting on the couch.  I ran over to him and started  Tickling him all over.  All of the sudden he jumps up, starts crying & gagging pointing to his throat.  He says ( like he is holding something in his mouth) my tooth.  Then, he really starts crying.  I guess I had knocked out his very loose tooth, then he swallowed it.  He was crying now, maybe upset he might not get a visit from the Tooth Fairy.  Then he starts coughing a bunch.  He walks over to the tile area by the laundry room and throws up.  It was mostly just blood, slimy gunk & the tooth!  I walk over tell him it's ok.  I pick up the tooth then take it to the bathroom sink to wash it off, and drop it, it goes down the drain (I'm really slick).   So, I unscrew the pipe, dump the stuff out (including the tooth) . Now, I  make sure the drain is closed and really wash the tooth.  Finally, it is given back to it's rightful owner, and he was no longer sad.  Talk about an exciting morning, and we hadn't even had breakfast yet.

All that trouble for this little tooth

Nice Wednesday's & Lemon Lover

I actually don't like Wednesday's very much.  Run around is all I seem to do.  Between voulenteering, ballet, scouts & karate, there is not much time here at home.  I feel like a taxi driver on Wednesday.  Patrick on the other hand has no school.  He has to start his work week again Wednesday night, but until 2:00 he's free.  Something he's done for quite awhile that I just love, he get's things done for me before he goes back to work.  He spends Wednesday mornings doing all the laundry & folding it too.  Doing all the dishes and putting them away.  He says he likes to help me out before I'm on my own till basically the next Monday.  I really appreciate how thoughtful he is.  It's so nice after all the running around on Wednesday.  I can come home at night to a nice clean house with nothing to do.  Thank you SO much for your nice Wednesday's they really mean a lot to me!

Fresh towels washed, folded & nicely put away

The other day Savannah made a yummy drink recipe from a cookbook she got from her friend as a birthday gift.  It had lemon juice in it.  After she made it she spent about an hour sucking on the lemon rind.  She LOVES lemons, and can't seem to get enough.  She asked if she could put them in a baggie in the fridge, and I said sure.  She likes to suck on them every once in awhile when she wants something sour.
That's my lemon lover.

Savannah's Rainbow Party

Yesterday Savannah had her Rainbow party at the park.  The weather was nice.  It was sunny and warm.  It was a bit on the windy side, but that happens often here in the spring.  She had eight friends come to celebrate with her.  We had bubble wands, and pinwheels for the kids to play with.  They got to take them home too.  They ran around and played with eachother. My friend Tracye made her adorable/ yummy  red velvet & lemon cupcakes.  The guest also brought home a colored bag that had rainbow popcorn and a cd we made with rainbow/color songs. was a fun, relaxed party.

Camping in Arches

We got back last night from a five day camping trip to Arches National park in Southern Utah.
We had a fantastic time.  Our days were filled with hikes, rock climbing, relaxing, campfires, and games.

The Arches were such a beautiful sight.  We learned so much.  Savannah celebrated her 6th birthday in the park.  It was a great way to spend spring break. I have tons of pictures.  I'll post some of my favorites.....

I think our three favorite things were, The Firery Furnace- you have to have a permit to go into the Firery Furnace, or go on a guided tour with a Ranger.  We did the three hour hike with the Ranger.  We learned so much.  We enjoyed climbing through small openings, and squeezing through small passages.

The Sand Dune Arche- this arch was in a really nice area where it was nice and cool.  There was a ton of sand just like at the beach.  Skyline arch- this arch was rather close to our campground.  It was huge!

  Once you climb under the arch, you have awesome views of the park.

The way to her heart...

Savannah LOVES dogs.  She has stuffed animal dogs, sleeping bag with a dog on it, pj's with dogs on them, Barbies with dogs, and the list goes on and on...... 

Last month for Valentines day a boy in her class gave her a cute little stuffed dog.  She sleeps with it now.
A few weeks ago when she was sick, Daddy bought her a new stuffed dog, he sleeps with this one too.
The other day she came home with a present from a little boy in her class.  What do you think it was?
Yes, another stuffed dog.  This one looked very used loved.  We washed in the washing machine on the sanatize cycle.  He now sleeps with her as well.  She just can't get enough.  Most people might think she may be getting sick of stuffed dogs, but honestly she does love them all.  Even if they don't make it into her bed at night, they still all get loved, and played with.

The way to her heart is thru stuffed dogs!

Here she is with her newest dog, from a friend at school.

Birthday treats, toolboxes & Karate

Savannah's b-day is next week.  Since they kids have no school tomorrow, and next week is Spring break,
today is the day Savannah gets to bring in treats for her birthday.  She's having a Rainbow party this year,
so I kept with that theme for the treats I made.

I got this adorable idea HERE

I had all the stuff to make these too, so figured what's a little more sugar?

Yesterday at Scouts we made toolboxes.  Trevor did  a great job!  He was the first one done, and was the only one who did not need any help.  All those times we've gone to Lowes for their Bulid and Grow activity have paid off.  And the fact that he helps his Dad build stuff a lot too.

Last night in Karate they were calling Griffin the Fighting Machine.  They've been doing a lot of sparring the last few classes.  Griffin is fast, and does not stop kicking, and punching.  Even with the girls he showed no mercey.  They would pull him off and tell they kid they were fighting to block him, cause he's a fighting machine.  At the end of class the instructor told Griffin to keep his gear on.  He told all of the student "see Griffin, he's a fighting machine, he has only been in class for like a month, but he's good, and real fast."  He also explained that you need to kick to block someone like Griffin.  So, Griffin sparred with the instructor to show the kids how to do it better.  They boys are loving karate.  Trevor is really good at it too.

Saturday is a busy day...

Griffin had his first soccer game of the spring season.

The kids pretended to be miners, and found this really cool

rock while digging in the backyard.

I did spring cleaning in the kids bedrooms.  Went thru all of their

clothes, toys and such.  Threw a bunch of stuff out, donated a ton.

The kids have these big bins where a few times a year they put special

stuff inside where it can be kept safe until they grow up.  That way we have

less clutter,but we don't have to throw everything out.  

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Poker Chips

When Griffin was diagnosed with ADHD the Psychologist recommended that we do a Behavior modification
program to help him learn how he should behave, and how to better control himself.

Here is a little info about Behavior modification -
Behavior modification is based on the principles of operant conditioning, which were developed by American behaviorist B. F. Skinner (1904-1990). Skinner formulated the concept of operant conditioning, through which behavior could be shaped by reinforcement or lack of it. Skinner considered his concept applicable to a wide range of both human and animal behaviors and introduced operant conditioning to the general public in his 1938 book, The Behavior of Organisms .


One behavior modification technique that is widely used is positive reinforcement, which encourages certain behaviors through a system of rewards. In behavior therapy, it is common for the therapist to draw up a contract with the client establishing the terms of the reward system.

Our Psychologist likes to use a sytem using poker chips.  We've been doing for about a month now.
The way it work is the boys (both of them are doing this) can earn chips for doing various things -

 Doing what is asked of them right away
 Playing nicely
 Being polite
 Sharing
 Bringing home good reports from school
Getting ready promptly
Following rules while shopping
Cleaning up messes and putting things away
Being on time
Working independently on schoolwork
Using maners
Helping others

In turn, if they are NOT doing these things they can loose chips.

They use their chips to "buy" Privileges
A few examples because they're are a lot of things they can purchase.  They helped come up with this list.

Playing the Wii 30 min - 3 chips
Family game nights with snacks- 8 chips
Late bedtime- 3 chips
Playing at the park  1 hour- 6 chips
Snacks between meals- 2 chips
Baking or cooking with Mom or Dad- 4 chips
Special events or outings  like Zoo, Museum- 20-30 chips
Cash for small purchases- 1 chip = .25
Choosing where to eat out for dinner- 10 chips

As always they need to ask us to purchase anything, and we have the right to say no.  Just because they want to go to a movie does not mean they get to because they have the chips.  Fo the most part everthing on the list is normally available.  Big things are based on our budget.  So far it is going pretty good.  Griffin does get upset when he looses chips, or when Trevor gets some and he does not.  He is getting better.

I have not told many people, but besides ADHD Griffin was also diagnosed with
Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)


Our Psychologist thinks the ADHD is causing him to have the ODD, so we're working on that.  He told us that if the ADHD gets under control he thinks the ODD will go away.


Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)
What is it?

ODD is a psychiatric disorder that is characterized by two different sets of problems. These are aggressiveness and a tendency to purposefully bother and irritate others. It is often the reason that people seek treatment. When ODD is present with ADHD, depression, tourette's, anxiety disorders, or other neuropsychiatric disorders, it makes life with that child far more difficult. For Example, ADHD plus ODD is much worse than ADHD alone, often enough to make people seek treatment. The criteria for ODD are:

A pattern of negativistic, hostile, and defiant behavior lasting at least six months during which four or more of the following are present:

1. Often loses temper

2. often argues with adults

3. often actively defies or refuses to comply with adults' requests or rules

4. often deliberately annoys people

5. often blames others for his or her mistakes or misbehavior

6. is often touchy or easily annoyed by others

7. is often angry and resentful

8. is often spiteful and vindictive

Why am I sharing all of this information?  Well, I bet there are people out there that have similar problems with their children.  I know we are not the only ones.  It also helps people understand Griffin better.  I also think of this blog as my own personal journal, so I write what is going on in my life, so I will remember down the road.  It's hard sometimes.  This morning Griffin had a tantrum  (not uncommom) and he ended up loosing some poker chips.  This put him in a bad mood.  He was the last one out of the car and he SLAMED the door shut, then ran off.  The seatbelt was caught so the door did not close, an aid from the school came and close it for me ( I was in the drive thru lane).  So after he gets in the car this afternoon (long after he's forgotten what happenedd) I have to make sure to talk to him about it, take tokens away and have him sit in time-out for a few minutes, which will most likely lead to another tantrum.  It's hard work, and we can't let things slide at all.  It's exhausting at times, but it's our job! We want him to be able to succeed in life.

Wacky Wednesday

Today Savannah's class celebrated Wacky Wednesday in honor of Dr. Suess.
The kids were encouraged to dress wacky for the day!  I was able to help with the activities today.