Pumpkin Time!

This year I jumped on the painted pumpkin bandwagon. Call me lazy, I see it as a chance for my babies' inner Picasso's to come out. Plus with Hubs new crazy schedule, Id have to plan waaaay to far in advance to fit in carving.

I taped paper to the kitchen table, and set up a bunch of different pants and brushes. Viola, painting pumpkin time!

(Dont mind the pile of sewing machine and stuff in the corner of my dining room! haha!)

I also had a pack of foam pumpkins I picked up at Michael's last year for like a dime. So we all painted those up too. (I did something cute with them... post on that later on!)

 

 They concentrated so hard, and had so much fun. Did I mention I also put out 4 containers of glitter (Yup, my boys use glitter!) and I think most of it ended up on the floor. I guess thats a small sacrifice in the grand scheme of keeping it easy!

 

 

Pay no mind to the fact my kids are in unders, and Boden has paint all over his mouth. He was licking it off his fingers!!!

 



 

 

Back To School For Hubs {a story on how mama deals!}

Three weeks ago, the Hubs started going to school again. On top of his full time job,he is now in school Tuesday and Thursday nights, along with every other Saturday, ALL DAY. Talk about putting a kink in our family dynamics. My kiddos are so super sweet, but they are rough. So by the end of the day, Daddy comes home from work, and I get to escape to the grocery store, fabric store, dinner, or whatever for a little break. Not so much anymore. On school days, Hubs gets home and his schedule is a little like this:

 

Say "hi" to the fam

Shower

Take 5 minutes deciding on dinner (if I haven't already made his decision for him)

Eat

Say "good night" to the fam

Go to school

 

 

There is very little room for a break for mama in there. But I know deep down, school is only for 8 months. I can deal for 8 months right? {haha maybe...} But with Hubs back in school, it makes me miss the days of new notebooks, lectures, and classes. If I were going to go back to school, it would be a DU masters in business administration. I would love to get a business degree. It would be so useful in so many areas of life. Seriously, being a stay at home mom with a business degree... totally rad right? I would have the most beautifully organized expense charts, and money trackers. It would be pretty fun.

I am quite sure, until Hubs finishes school {oh, did I mention its to become a Sheriff???} I am just plain, not degree holding, crazed and dazed, and walking zombieish Mama. Some day I may go back to school, but for now, I am the wife of a man who works full time, goes to school part time, and is getting ready to have a career where he lays his life down everyday to make my little town safer for our babies. {major stud factor}

The super long days are hard. I am slowly learning to adjust to less "me" time, and more "mom" time. {Amen to all you single mamas out there, you all are incredible} I hope that once I get used to being alone more, I will start to craft more, and netflix and cheap wine will stop holding me hostage! Because, lets be honest, 4 hours alone after the kids go to bed... that's the perfect time to kick your feet up, catch up {and fall in love with} new shows, and have a pretty glass of wine.

Cheers to a wonderful Saturday, a day with my Hubs and the kiddos!

 

 

{This is a sponsored post for the University of Denver, however, all the
points and views are my own.}

School, School and More School!

I have a little school depression going on in this house. September rolls around, and I knew Brax would be heading back to school. Easy Peasy. Three days a week, 3 hours a day. Errand running time.
Mid summer, we realized there was a chance that Hubs would be starting school in the fall also. That was never really talked about, we just knew it was all part of the package. (More on the "package" later)
Then the mini-bombshell. Boden would be in school Mondays also. You see, Boden turned 2 in July. At his 2 year appt. I expressed my concerns, as he didn't talk very much. (We're talking 20 words max) Apparently I had expressed my concerns at his 18m appt also, which of course I cant remember 6 months ago! So, the Dr. said that we should get him an evaluation. Then, she said the word that up turned my family for 2 months. Autism. Its funny, how one little word can make your head turn to mush, and turn a totally together family, all wonky.
Autism.
Bo has some issues, which clearly are effecting his daily life, but really? Hes 2. No big deal right. So he doesn't talk, so he likes to line up his cars, and cans of soup. So what if he likes to be kind of repetitious. So what if he gets frustrated because he cant talk,and bangs his head, hits me, bites me, and tries to choke me out. So what right? Im the mom, I can fix it. By the way, hes 2. Isn't some of this normal?
I am certain that Boden understood everything that was going on in our family, after that doctors appointment. About 2 weeks later, he was using more words. He started repeating everything, and basically became my little parrot. I still was stressed out. What did I do wrong if they think my baby boy has Autism. My oldest is fine, in fact, he is so highly intelligent that I don't know what to do with him. (he is reading chapter books, and adding double digits at 4... Yeah, mommy brag moment) So, is Bo behind because I didn't have all the solo time with him that I did with Brax? Did I not read to him enough, did he learn about bad habits from watching Brother go through the "terrible Threes"? Because you know, as a mom, this is all my fault. It must be.
Well, after 2 evaluations, a failed attempt at a hearing test, and a parents meeting with the therapists, we came to the conclusion that Bo is behind in his social skills, and his communication skills. (Duh. Thanks for the heads up, guys??) Instead of going the route of speech and occupational therapies, they offered us a small "class" option. Mondays from 11- 12:45 Boden goes to "school" with 3 other little ones who are also behind. They have gross motor time, circle time, activity time, One on One time (there are 3 teachers in the classroom at all times) and the most important to Bo, outside time. He has started talking and expressing his needs with great improvement before school started last week, but even after only 2 classes, I can see a difference. There hasn't really been any further mention of the "A" word, but it is only a stigma if you make it one. My little guy is happy and healthy, and Autistic or not, I love the snot out of my little red headed monster.
So you can see that there is a lot of schooling going on in this household. My blog posts should begin to regulate as Hubs is gone 2 nights a week now. As long as I can get my boys to bed, its mommy time!!!