Sensory bucket overload

I thought I had pictures for my home made crayons I had done for Christopher's birthday party.  I don't so I'll make more crayons and do pictures.

What I'll share is our sensory buckets we did for Christopher's party that we had this past weekend.

I had tons of rice, like we get rice with WIC but my boys won't eat it.  

Chris is in an autism room so I was trying to do activities for his class that would be fun but educational.

We had brown rice but the instructions say not to use brown.  We did anyway.

First we poured two 16 ounce bags of rice in a ziploc bag.

I added about a 1/4 cup of vinegar

Next I put food dye in the bag.  I squirted about 15-20 drops in since it was brown rice.

Once the bag was closed *it is important to make sure it is or the rice will come out of the bag*, I had the boys help and squeeze the bag to mix the color together with the rice.

I had them dry on newspapers and put them in containers for the men to try out.

For the party I put cars and trains in them.  We have done others with different things in them like black and white beans with pumpkins and skeleton buckets for Halloween and green and gold with fake gold coins for St. Patrick's Day.

Wordless Wednesday: Self portrait

Christopher did this in school today

Happy Birthday Jonathan

Happy birthday Jon,
 
 This year we have found out that you have PDD_NOS.  It doesn't change anything about you.  It means we understand you more and can give you the space you need sometimes and can help you where you need help in other areas.

 You love playing with knights and dragons, army men, playdough, Transformers, Toy Story,  and Legos.  You are amazing with your hands and can create a Lego Starship without directions!

 You FINALLY hit the 40 pound mark.  You have no clue how excited we all were!  You really hit a growth spurt from last year to this; last year you were 36 pounds and around 41 inches tall.  This year you are 40.1 pounds *you were proud of the .1 pound* and 45 1/2 inches tall!  I guess all those times of you saying "hungry" were truthful and you REALLY were hungry!

This year we celebrated your birthday by going to Chuck E Cheese, Toys R Us, and Petco.  You picked out a fish that you named Pikachu.

I love you to the moon and back *and to infinity and beyond!*
Mommy

Happy birthday Matthew

Matthew,
  You are 6.  You have amazed me every second of those 6 years!  You have grown this year into a more handsome boy than you were last year.  I didn't know that was possible to do!

You are part ham/part anxious little boy.  You have made us all laugh with your jokes and humor.  You have made us smile and frustrated all at the same time.  I wish we could figure out what is making you tick kiddo!

This year you have broken yet another bone.  Do me a favor and make it your last ok?

This past year you have enjoyed playing video games, legos, and with the trios. You love Ben 10, Batman, and Phinnies and Ferb.

Saturday you celebrated your birthday by going to Chuck E Cheese, Toys R Us, and Petco where you got a fish.  You named him Red Tail.

I love you to the moon and back,
Mommy

Happy Birthday Baby Boy

4 years ago our family was complete. 4 years ago *2nd birthday* we entered a journey we weren't prepared for but embraced it with open arms.

Dear Christopher *1st letter*, 

4 years ago you came into this world not quite ready for it.  You came out yelling "Put me back in.  I'm not done baking!"  You made up for it though.

This year you have started talking more and more.  You have made me re-think the whole "I wish he would start talking thing I said before."  Funny thing is, I love it!  

You love playing with your Mater toys, your Thomas toys, and Nano Bugs.  You have started playing with Legos more and more.  You also love to play Wii.  

Tonight you will celebrate your birthday with a meal fit for a king *or a pre-schooler* of Cars chicken nuggets, french fries, and broccoli.  You love your broccoli!  I have a special cake for you of white cake with Oreo filling and Oreo icing.

I am in awe of you and your strength.  I am so excited to see how you blossom and change over this next year on your way to 5.  You made me proud to call you your mommy!

I love you to the moon and back, *3rd letter*

Mommy

First day of school

I've been busy these past weeks playing with the boys and spending the last weeks of summer with them before they start school.

Yesterday was the first day of school.  Jon and Matthew started kindergarten.

Chris had his first day of preschool.

Jon got to school and lost his 2nd tooth as soon as he walked in. My child was the first to visit the school nurse for the year....They enjoyed their day and were very happy today when they got home.

To celebrate the milestone I made the kids special cupcakes for their lunches.

I used a box mix to save time.  I used a 1M Wilton tip for the apple, a tootsie roll for the stem, leaf tip for the leaf, and a gummy worm to come out of the apple.

Tomorrow Matthew gets his cast off.

Mama is the QUEEN of stupid injuries

When I was 10 I cut the tip of my pointer finger on my left hand off when it got caught in a bathroom door at the YMCA for a girl scout function.

When I was 16 I dove to hit a ball while playing tennis.  I sprained both ankles and my knee.

When I was a senior in college I broke a toe in two places while running to the bathroom to rinse my eye out when I got nail polish remover in it.

When I was pregnant with the twins I was trying a new maternity shirt on in the kitchen and got my hand in the fan.  I broke 2 fingers in my hand.

Last night I was picking up a pair of underwear and when I came up I hit my right shoulder hard on the mounting for a baby gate.  A baby gate that we've not used in years but the mounting wasn't removed.  I tore my rotator cuff.