Halloween Costume Parade

Halloween started yesterday for us with the annual costume parade at the girl's school. Regan went as a disability camp counselor which of course only needed me to buy a whistle. Rebecca and her best friend Kayla went as cats, and those eyelashes were incredible!. One of my favorite characters of the day was the girl's principal. He went as a pirate and kept in character the whole time, which just cracked us up. He was in accent the whole morning and took the time to talk to each kid about their costumes and welcomed them to be a part of his crew.

Some of my favorite costumes from the kids are those who are creative enough to use what they find around them at home. One fifth grader went as a tourist complete with her Samsonite luggage and a camera around her neck. The best though was my good friend Tammy whose son came in a box that was speckled on the top half and painted white on the bottom.

What was he?

A crouton dipped in ranch dressing! Isn't that he best?

Have a great Halloween and if you are in San Antonio, come find us at the Boo at the Zoo event.

Weekend Forecast: Sunny with a chance of ZhuZhu Pets

The options around small town for Halloween were limited this year. The girls are a little to old for trick-or treating now. None of their friends are throwing Halloween parties, and I didn't particularly feel up to it. They could hand out candy at John Mark's business for the community Pumpkin Patch Trail (which in their minds was about as thrilling as researching term life insurance rates). They could also go to a neighboring town for the haunted corn maze, but it is not handicapped friendly for Regan, and Rebecca gets nightmares way to easily.

Lucky for us a job opportunity has come our way that suits us all perfectly. I was asked if I would be available to travel to San Antonio for their annual "Boo at the Zoo" event and run the booth for the ZhuZu pets hamsters that are all the rage right now. Well the girls and I love the zoo, and we had good friends that want to work too. I am really excited to get the opportunity to have a fun Halloween in San Antonio with friends....plus get paid!

I hope I see some of my central Texas readers there and I know we are going to have hamsters to give away so come by, say hi!

The Sheet Search (say that 10x fast)

Regan is almost fully recovered from her injury that happened in August. A quick recap...

She was walking around the school track in her walker with her aide during PE time in 100 plus degree weather, and fell to her knees. She not only got incredibly scraped up but also had minor burns as well. The recovery of her injuries has been less than pleasant to say the least.

Because the scrape and burn went through several layers of skin, but not deep enough for stitches or anything it has taken For-E-Ver to heal. For the first month we kept her in the wheelchair and applied ointments etc. This month we finally have her in her walker and working again, but one small scrape still someitmes opens. The problem is the longer Regan is out of her walker the harder it is for her to pick up walking again. Needless to say I hate it when she is in her wheelchair, because chances are down the road she will be stuck in one for life, so right now I want her as active as possible.

The other rather nasty side affect is her bedding. As much as I have tried to keep bandages and everything healing, for some reason she still ends up in her comfortable fetal position every night with all bandages mysteriously on the floor, and disgusting sheets.

I have never done so much bedding laundry on nearly a daily basis, and they have become threadbare and still stained no matter what additive I am using lately. I am ready for her to heal and buy her all new sheet sets. Some comfortable 500+ thread count, with wrinkle treatment, and luxurious softness. I am ready for this child's knees to heal once and for all. I think I will burn her sheets in celebration when that day finally does come.

Of course I would post a pic....but really who wants to see my darling's knees in all their nastiness. Just take my word for it people!

Commended

There is no doubt that Regan struggles to some degree in school. Her cerebral palsy definitely affects some of her learning skills and ability to process information. There is no doubt in my mind though that once she understands, she has it forever. She has an amazing memory that continually astounds us.

For years the TAKS (Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills)  standardized tests have been modified for her to some degree.  For example she is given special permission from the state to use a calculator for the math portion, and while it may seem really fortunate, it is because of her inability to properly align the numbers when she writes out a problem, hence major mistakes happen. On other tests though it is usually in regards to larger print, having questions read to her orally, or given the core questions without all the extra filler they put in for the average student.

There are definitely years when her TAKS scores have been less than thrilling, and there was the year we were horrified to learn that her bubbling in the answers had gotten off by a line, and the teacher could say nothing to her about it. But this year......we were in tears proud of my girl!!!!!!

She not only passed the 7th grade TAKS test in writing, but she scored 100%!!!! Yes, she really did. Today she received a special commendation and certificate from the school since her paper was graded much later than her classmates, so she was not recognized at last years awards ceremony. today she received applause from the entire school in the Monday morning assembly on a job well done.

She is awesome!

In case you didn't know.

My Horrific Honda Scare...Should be driving a GM

On our way to Wal-Mart yesterday where I was going to develop pictures (and play BINGO). The girls and I got stuck in a work zone. Traveling at about 25 mph behind a long line of cars and a Texas Highway Department Pilot car, somewhere up ahead somebody stepped on their brakes. I was the last car in the line and plowed into the truck in front of me. This is what my Honda looked like yesterday around 10:00 am.

The girls immediately burst into tears, and luckily for all three of us no one was hurt at all. Rebecca pretty much snapped out of it immediately, and then wanted to borrow my phone to call all of her friends to tell them what happened (isn't that crazy). Regan took a very long time to calm down, and was hysterical for the better part of a 1/2 hour, but that goes along with her cerebral palsy and inability to process things well.

We made it safely to the shoulder of the road, but my entire front at that time was smoking as we got out. I went straight into logic mode...which is always how I handle a crisis. For some reason I always get completely calm and logical, about what I should be doing. We called John Mark to come out (and the call center of our insurance company). I had Rebecca gather up everything we needed to get out of the car. I took pictures for my insurance. The truck we rear ended contained four guys that were traveling and they got out to assess their damage.

There was none.... not even a dent, and the one little bit of white paint that got on their steel constructed bumper, just chipped off. The American made farm truck was stalwart and standing, while my Honda was a testament to modern fiberglass and plastic....and for some reason no air bags deploying (going to research still why not). The guys looked at my wreck and their truck, and everyone pretty much agreed that was why American vehicles were made better.

The sheriff's department came out, as well as a representative for the Texas Highway Department since it happened in a work zone, and everyone was amazed at the difference in the two vehicles. My battered Honda left for the wrecker yard, and the truck simply drove away.

There is something to be said for American made, and it's almost too late to realize it.

The New Smart Ones: Review

I have really focused on eating better since my girls have gone back to school. One of the biggest traps I can fall easily into is snacking out of sheer boredom. Does that happen to anyone else? Well to combat this I have been trying to drink a lot more water when I am bored instead of reaching for food in between meals. Then when I am ready to eat a meal I watch how many calories I am consuming. A great solution I have discovered are Smart Ones by the Weight Watchers company. Especially at lunch time when I only have myself to feed, and I do not need to worry about the rest of my family and making their meals.

Recentli, I was sent three coupons to try some of Smart Ones newest products. I bought the Artisan Creations Stone Fired Pizza in pepperoni, the Smart Ones Pizza Minis also in pepperoni, and the Artisan Creations Grilled Flatbread in chicken marinara. All three of these are tasty lunchtime options that fall between the five to eight points if you follow Weight Watchers and their points system. As for me with just trying to eat a little healthier and a lot less, these come in perfect lunchtime sizes and I was not hungry afterwards and since I have been eating healthier I love that there are tasty options available for me at lunch.

I really appreciate how much effort Smart Ones has put into their lunches. I thought all three were tasty and I have gone back and bought more fore me to have as my lunchtime options at home. My favorite are the flatbreads which I can't get enough, and I also really enjoy the Fruit Inspirations line. These are a healthy, affordable, and tasty too, how could you go wrong with that?

Disney On Ice Celebrates: 100 Years of Magic

For Regan's birthday this year we are going to see Disney On Ice. We had gone a few years ago and the girls just loved it when we saw Beauty and the Beast as an ice show. They still talk about the memories we made as a family on that day. To me it is so much more important that the girls get these wonderful experiences to cherish then have stuff cluttering their rooms. Often for Christmas and Birthdays I look for them to have experiences rather than stuff.

This year at the Reliant Center in Houston the family is excited about spending time together and celebrating my darling girl turning another year older and causing me many more gray hairs. Luckily, for that evening we look forward to the joy and magic that is Disney, and spending time together as a family. Would you like to enjoy some quality time with your family at a great price? Right now there is a coupon code through Mom Central for really great ticket prices that your family can take advantage of too.

Come experience

Disney On Ice celebrates 100 Years of Magic

playing Reliant Stadium with your family!

A SPECIAL OFFER FOR YOU!

Purchase a 4‐pack of ;ckets for only $44 for weekday shows

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