Small post, busy day!

I don't have time to write much of a post today, but I thought I'd check in at any rate. I committed myself to doing some organization around the house, and felt like baking too, so I'm attempting both. The baking is over ( I made pineapple upside-down cake), but I still have dinner to prep (I don't know why, but I felt like doing something special for dinner tonight, even though it's just a random Thursday)... mmm, marinated steak. My marinades are always fun, I mix a little of whatever I have on hand, adjust to taste, and it always ends up fabulous. Todays concoction was soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, a little BBQ sauce, finely chopped onion, honey, sriracha sauce, and garlic. Taste test verdict: Delicious! Now to decide what I'm going to make with it... I considered potatoes au gratin, but we just had that last week. The kids love mashed, so maybe I'll jazz them up, and do a seasoned veggie medley as well. Also, I need to make rolls. Nothing better than fresh rolls with butter, in my opinion.

Tristan is continuing to do well on his medication, no side effects as of yet, and he's been behaving well at school. The behaviour, I'm not sure is coincidence or the pills, but at any rate, it's always nice to pick him up from school with a glowing review from his E.A. In February we start The Incredible Years Program, which runs for 15 weeks. I meet with other parents as a form of support group, and to learn skills that will aid in raising a child with ADHD, and Tristan will join the childrens class to learn how to better manage his emotions and work on his social skills. Should be interesting.

Mike just texted me and informed me he is stuck carrying drywall in this awful weather, and it is just killing him. I feel so badly for him, I can't imagine the pain he is in. I wish he could come home now :(

Leftover Tenderloin becomes BBQ Pork Sandwiches

Last week I made pork tenderloin for dinner, and ended up with a ton of leftovers. Aside from the typical 'pack some for Mike's lunch, eat the rest for mine' leftover routine, I threw together some delicious BBQ pork sandwiches. Definitely a man-pleaser, but since I eat like a man, I'm hooked on them too, and can hardly wait to make them again. Here's the recipe, if you even want to call it that.

Leftover pork tenderloin, thiny sliced.

Chicken and rib BBQ sauce ( I suppose you could use your favorite flavour, I used chicken and rib because I love the sweet/spicy combo)

Cheese, thinly sliced (I used medium cheddar)

Onion, sliced

Lettuce

Tomato, sliced

Cucumber, sliced

Bacon, optional (I had tried both ways, and they were both delicious, but come on.... bacon!)

As for the bread, you could use anything really. I don't often have "fancy" bread on hand, so I used a crusty roll that I toasted in the oven, and toasted whole wheat bread the next day.

Combine the pork and a generous dollop of BBQ sauce in a bowl, microwave until hot ( In my microwave, this took about 1 minute and 30 seconds). You want it steaming so it melts the cheese. Mix well, and the pork should fall apart.

Spread the BBQ pork on bottom half of roll, bun, toast, whatever. Top with cheese. It should be so hot the cheese melts into the pork.

Layer on your toppings. Anything goes really, but I went with my staple sandwich toppings.

Top with the other half of your roll/bun/bread.

Squish together, and eat!

Yummy!

Concerta, colour, and coupons!

As you know, we had an appointment for Tristan's formal diagnosis on Thursday. Things went exactly as I expected, and the doctor informed us that Tristan does have ADHD. He has been prescribed Concerta, and today is his fourth day taking it. I initially did not want Tristan to be on medication, but he has been given the lowest dose, and if I feel uncomfortable with it at any time, we can have him taken off it, or switched to a different medication. So far, he has suffered no side effects, his personality and energy levels have not changed, but he has been less aggressive and frustrated. Yesterday was his first day of school on Concerta, and I'm not sure if it is coincidence, or the medication is working faster than I expected, but he had a fantastic day. No scuffles with other students, he behaved appropriately and followed the rules, and completed his work with no arguments. I did his reading and homework with him in the evening, and he was able to concentrate on the books instead of fidgeting and generally being distracted, finished his homework in no time, and his printing was a lot more legible. So far, so good.

I had an old tattoo coloured on Sunday, it looks approximately a million times better than before, but oh man, did it hurt! I'm pretty good at tolerating pain, especially when it comes to tattoos (I have 10 so far), but this one was just awful. I have stretch marks on my stomach from being pregnant with T-Man, and I guess scar tissue is extra sensitive... it felt as if Mikey was sawing into my stomach with a steak knife. But I took the pain, even though many times I thought of tapping out and having him finish another day, and the end result was so worth it.

I like how you can actually see in the picture how swollen my stretch marks got. This was taken by Mike about 30 seconds after Mikey finished up. I'll take another when it's all healed up. I'm already itching for another one, and already have the idea formed.

One last quick note, on my grocery run yesterday, I spent $172 on $300 worth of food and personal care items by price matching and using coupons! That's my biggest couponing accomplishment yet! It was my first time price matching, and after those results, I'm confident that next time, I'll be able to save even more!

Mad Scientist

Today I finally caved in to the kids pleas, and allowed them to choose something from the book fair. Bailey settled on a book about cats, with interactive pages and quizzes, and Tristan chose a Mad Science kit. I was hoping he would pick a new book or two for us to read together, but the prospect of making slime and a UV pen was too much for him to resist. It came with a little booklet that listed some experiments to try, and explained how and why they work, and test tubes. So naturally, since we've been home, he's been playing scientist. First we made monster goo (A mixture of water and cornstarch that looks like liquid, but when you dig your hands in is actually quite stiff. I added food colouring to make it more interesting, plus it looked really cool swirling into the mixture), and then we terrified pepper... That is, we sprinkled a layer of pepper on top of some water in a bowl, and added a drop of dish soap, causing the pepper to move away. He seems to be very happy with his decision, and is eagerly awaiting Bailey's arrival home from school so he can show off his goo.

Tomorrow is the day we find out if Tristan does in fact have ADD/ADHD/ODD. It's been a long time coming, and I'm hoping that it will be the start of an effective treatment program for Tristan. I am so afraid of him suffering academically and socially, and I've been waiting what seems like forever for answers. There seems to be some improvement in his behaviour at school since his teachers, myself, and his mental health worker had a meeting, but there is still a long way to go. He is still very much the impulsive little boy I've always known, and the emotional outbursts and difficulty interacting with the other children are still a common occurence, but hopefully tomorrow will shed some much needed light and we can begin a program that is right for his needs, and that will help him to succeed. He is such a bright child, and there is nothing I want more than to see him go far.

Time to go and do homework, here's a few snapshots of my little scientist and his experiments.

A New Years Resolution ( A few weeks too late!)

I'm back! I am making a vow to keep up with this blog now. I have added a new resolution to my list. Yes, it's a few weeks late, but better late than never, right?

1. Cut back on smoking.

2. Exercise more ( this one would be a lot easier to accomplish if we could find the last few screws/bolts/whatevers for my treadmill!)

3. BLOG MORE.

I'll start small, and aim for once a week. Shouldn't be too hard to do. I hope. I'm very forgetful.

A brief overview of the holidays for my family: My sister and her boyfriend came to visit for the week of Christmas, so I got to spend my birthday (Christmas Eve!), Christmas, and New Years with a few of my favorite people, which was perfect. Tristan got sick on Christmas Day, and threw up at the Hines Family Christmas party. Thankfully it was at nighttime, so he still got to enjoy his day. Both the kids were more than ecstatic over their presents, Mike and I are still recovering from credit card shock. Worth it in the end though, to see the smiles on their faces. New Years Eve was spent as a family, playing at the park and taking in a fireworks display, before heading home to roast marshmallows over a bonfire (and for the grown-ups, have a few drinks... or more!). All in all, one of the best Christmases we've shared so far, I would say.

I've been doing a lot of couponing lately. It's a fantastic way to save our family money, and since I don't go to work, it gives me a sense of accomplishment. On one shopping trip I bought $40 worth of products and paid only $10. Even Mike is getting into it. A lot of women I talk to have significant others who are embarassed to be seen with their partner couponing, let alone use them themselves, but not Mike! He has completely embraced my new hobby and will even use them alone now. If he's out grabbing a few things and he comes across a tearpad, he'll rip off a few and bring them home to me. It's nice that couponing is something we can share together, and really, why wouldn't it be, when it's something that the entire family is benefitting from?

That's all for now, if I sit here on the computer any longer I won't get anything done, and Tristan's room is in desperate need of some organization. Ciao!

Happy Halloween!

I am failing so miserably at blogging lately! There's been so much going on... I've had a million and one doctors appointments, and of course, getting ready for Halloween. I put together all our costumes this year, and we decorated the front of the house. This weekend was spent baking cupcakes for the kids classes, and a pumpkin cake. Today was the kids schools Halloween parade around the neighbourhood, and my neighbour and I dressed up and accompanied them. Mike came too, but he wasn't dressed up since he was on lunch. He was wearing a safety vest and workboots though, so I guess that kind of counts as a costume. He was going to dress up as the male counterpart to my gypsy, but we just didn't have a chance to make it to the thrift store with all we had to do on the weekend.

We are, of course, taking the kids out trick or treating tonight, which I am just as excited about as they are. I love holidays so much! And an added bonus... I get to sneak their Halloween candy! To be fair, I'm much better at brushing my teeth than they are, and I don't get that crazy sugar rush that leaves them bouncing off the walls for hours. I'm hoping lots of people hand out caramel apple suckers this year! My favorite!

Here are some pictures from todays Halloween parade. Tristan is a werewolf and Bailey is Katy Perry.

I'll have more to add tomorrow after trick or treating :)

It's been a while...

It's been so long since I posted here, and since I have some downtime on my hands right now, I figured it's a good time to get back into the swing of things. The end of summer and back to school has been so hectic. Mikes oldest son, Michael, and his girlfriend moved in with us for a few months, so instead of running a household of four people, it jumped to six.Athough they are much older, they made just as much mess as the little ones combined. With the kids being back to school my life revolves around school meeting, field trips, and homework. Both the kids seem to be doing well, other than Tristan has some problems staying focused in class and has been quite disruptive. I've attended some meetings concerning this, both with ERT's and BRT's at the school as well as a mental health specialist who met with both Tristan and I, and is of the opinion that he has ADHD. I myself have suspected this since he was 2, but it took him going to school for me to realize that I need to take action or risk holding him back. We are awaiting an appointment for a formal diagnosis, so that we can begin treatment. His school has put a plan in place for him and it seems to be helping so far, I haven't had any calls to go and pick him up, and for the most part he is able to take part in class activities. Just today he won a prize for good behaviour, three tubs of play dough! He is making pizza with them as we speak.

As for me, I have been in and out of the doctors office. My last two periods were mainly just spotting, and I've been experiencing nausea, headaches, breast pain, a poking kind of pain in my stomach, fatigue, bloating... Mike and I both swore I was pregnant! Which we would have been over the moon about, but alas, approximately six pee tests and a blood test proved I am not. I was also tested for a number of other things, liver, kidneys, bladder, blood sugar levels, etc, and I am in the clear there too, as far as the blood test shows. So next up is my abdominal xray, and then two ultrasounds, both an abdominal and a pelvic, in the same day. So HOORAY for fasting all night and then chugging water all afternoon. The last time I had an ultrasound I threw up because I drank too much water due to misreading the form. This time I will be taking special care not to humiliate myself again.

We've had horrible weather lately, which has totally curbed all our plans. Apple picking, the pumpkin patch, a last few rides on the harley... it stinks! Fortunately this weekend is supposed to be nice, so we're going to attempt to cram it all in, since I'm thinking it's going to be last decent weekend we have. I got my G1 a few weeks ago, and I haven't even been able to practice driving, because I'm not comfortable enough to drive in the rain yet. I'm terrified to drive, period, actually, let alone in the rain.

In closing, here are some pictures taken over the last few months.