Connor

I am always amazed how different my children are in personalities and appearances. They each come with beautiful gifts and struggles in this life. Our Connor is one of our kids who has the most struggles. I have to admit, I have struggled with him. He is so sweet and happy and easy going. Sure he loves to tease and do things to bug his siblings but that is normal. He is happy to play with anyone who wants to play with him, even if they are 2. He has such blonde hair and such deep blue eyes and the longest eyelashes. He is a handsome little man. He has a mischievous little smile and when he grins his whole face just lights up. He has a dimple in his chin which my brother Aaron has and my moms dad had.

All of his teachers assure me that he is bright and smart...he just has this one little problem. He can't stay focused. Year after year we struggle to get him to complete his school work. We spend literally hours on homework that should take no longer than 30-45 minutes. He misses lots of play time trying to get his homework done. After 3 teachers recommendations, we had him tested for ADD. I have to admit, I think it is over diagnosed and over prescribed. Even when the specialist we took him too, said that he had mild ADD and we consented to put him on a low dose of medication I was hesitant and reluctant. He has been on medication for 1 1/2 years and this Christmas, after thinking about it for several months, and talking with his teachers, I was thinking it really wasn't doing anything so I took him off. I saw a small difference. Even more unfocused, I noticed he was forgetting to bring home homework, he came home with a test he needed to do because he didn't do it at school. I asked him what he had been doing when everyone else was taking the test. He replied that he had been talking. He hadn't done one single problem on that test. I really thought I saw only a small difference, apparently, I was pretty wrong. The teachers saw a big difference.

I got his progress report at the beginning of this week and was beyond stunned. I guess the medication had been working more than I thought. His grades had plummeted. He hadn't completed assignments. His work wasn't good, and he grades suffered.

I took him back to see the doctor. I have to admit it has been hard depressing week. He is so sweet and so good that I hate to see him struggle. I hate knowing that the teachers call him out in class to refocus him and that he has to miss recess to finish classwork. I hate when he tells me he doesn't have a lot of friends and I wonder if its because the other kids view him as 'bad' because the teachers are always reprimanding him to keep him on task. The teachers threaten to hold him back or send him to the principle if he continues to not get his work done. The poor kid. But I get it now. He really truly can't help it. I sit by him when he does homework and I will see him staring at the paper but literally not seeing it. His mind is somewhere else. It must be so frustrating for him to know he needs to do it and wants to do but can't keep his mind on it. I don't like the other kids to avoid him because they think he is naughty when he tries but just can't do it.

I hope that this medication helps. I still think it is over diagnosed and over prescribed but I get it and the need for the medication. If helps Connor to focus so he can do better in school and maybe what it feels like to be focused, maybe over the course of time he will gain the ability to focus or recognize when he isn't and call himself back to the task. I don't know. I just hope this work and I really hope in a couple of years it won't be necessary...

2 more books

My two latest books I have read are 'Fallen' by Lauren Kate. It was pretty good. It is not a vampire book and I enjoyed how the story unfolded. Good stuff! I also just finished 'Incarceron' by Catherine Fisher. This story was ingenious. The thought behind is extremely imaginative. She has a very creative mind. I think you will either love it or hate. I loved it! Very interesting and very different then the stuff I have been reading...and again, it has nothing to do with vampires!!

Gymnast Hero 2010

We went to Lubbock, Texas for the Gymnast Hero competition for Ethan this weekend. Last year was his first year competing and he mostly received 8th and 9th place ribbons and one bronze medal for rings. This year we weren't sure what to expect except that we know he has worked so hard this year. He received for his level(he is competing level 5 this year) 2 gold medals, 1 silver and 2 bronze. Then he received the gold for All-Around for level 5 for his age group!! After looking at the scores, if you would have ranked him for ALL of level 5 and not just those in his age group he would have received 3rd place for all who competed level 5! We were so excited for him but it was nothing compared to his excitement. Just earlier this week I told him to bike down to a friends house to see if he could play and he said "I don't want to bike. My butt hurts, especially the left cheek at the bottom" I laughed and laughed! They condition at the end of 3 hours of practice and it is tough. He has another competition this weekend and we are excited to see how he does now that the first competition jitters are over!

PS this is a picture of him before everyone was up on the podiums but it was the only one that wasn't fuzzy. I guess I was so excited I wasn't very still taking the pics!

Vampires Anonymous...

Ok, I am going to admit that I am a Twilight fan. I saw Twilight like 7 times in the theater and the movie itself sucked and was totally low-budget but I loved the books so I kept going. There is a huge split here, those who love them and those who hate them. I am really going out on a limb and announcing it but I am realizing I have this little addiction going on. So after I read the Twilight series several(7 times and the first book like 10 times) I started hunting out some other vampire books just for fun. There are 2 series I have really liked: The first is the Blue Bloods by Melissa De La Cruz. The second is Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead. I have also read The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod by Heather Brewer and it was a good easy read. I started reading the House of the Night series by Kristin Cast and PC Cast, the first one is called Marked but I didn't finish it. It was a bit much for me.

So the cat is out of the bag. I think I am not going to look for anymore, I am facing the weird addiction and getting over it so if you have some really good books to help me past the addiction, let me know!!! Or you can join my newly founded addiction group VA: Vampires Anonymous.

More recipes and workouts!

We had a fairly quiet weekend. I cleaned out the kids' rooms pretty good, did laundry, all the usual stuff. I found this recipe and tried it out tonight. It is pretty low cal so that is a bonus!

Artichoke tomato sadad

5 large tomatoes cut into wedges
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 jar (7 1/2 oz) marinated quartered artichoke hearts, drained
1 can(2 1/4 oz) sliced ripe olives drained
2 TBSP minced fresh parsley
2 TBSP white wine vinegar
2 garlic cloves, minced

Arrange tomates on serving platter. sprinkle with salt and pepper. in a small bowl combine rest of ingredients. spoon over tomatoes. Refridgerate leftovers.

3/4 cup=74 calories, 5 g fat, 0 cholesterol, 241 mg sodium, 7 g carbs, 2 g fiber 1 g protein.

This weeks workout is the same as last weeks! Make sure you are doing at LEAST 20 min of cardio but preferably 30 min!

Grecian Garden Salad

I fixed this last night and it is yummy and low cal!

Grecian Garden Salad

1 1/2 cups fresh asparagus(1 inche pieces)
3 medium tomatoes seeded and chopped
2 TBSP balsamic vinegar
4 1/2 tsp minced fresh basil or 1 1/2 dried basil
1 TBSP olive oil
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 cup(4 oz) crumbled feta or 4 lite mozzerella cheese stick chopped

In large saucepan, bring 3 cups water to a boil. Add asparagus: cover and boil for 3 minutes. Drain and immediately place asparagus in ice water. Drain and pat dry. Transfer to a serving bowl. Stir in tomatoes.

In a small bowl, wisk vinegar, basil, oil, salt, and pepper. Drizzle over vegetables; toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Just before serving, stir in cheese.

Nutritional facts: 2/3 cups equals 92 calories, 5 g fat, 10mg cholesterol, 579 mg sodium 6 g carbs, 2 g fiber, 5 g protein.

this weeks workout

Sorry I am behind in getting this weeks workout up.

Legs: Super set these exercise. That means to do a set of one then do the other exercise and then back to the first, then the second etc... I have grouped them in pairs so you know what to superset. 3 sets of each with 15 reps per set.

Legs: King squats, leg press

Wall ball squats, leg press

sumo squats, lateral leg lifts

Chest/Back: Push ups, pull ups

bench press with dumbbells, seated cable rows

Chest flys on bench, terry pulls(using a crossover if you attend a gym)

Biceps/ tricpes: Isolated curls, dips

Alternating curls with dumbells, kickbacks

Low cable curls, tricep press with ropes or bar on a crossover section

Shoulders: front raise, lateral raise, shoulder press and shoulder deadlifts

Anything you don't know how to do, look up on the internet for pictures, video and explanations!