St. Paddy's Day 2008 and good news

As is traditional, the Ferrin family had green eggs and ham for St. Patrick's day (also honoring Dr. Seuss's birthday on March 2nd). We were all decked out in our green, but Braden and Adam had matching St. Patrick's day T-shirts. That was cute. Here's the pictures of our holiday breakfast.


I almost didn't get to download these pictures because my new cell phone about died. I left it charging on the bathroom counter last night, and about 4:30 this morning, it started making the weirdest noises. When we checked on it, I realized that I had splashed water on it last night while washing my face. The most embarrassing part is that I have to admit to the destruction myself. I finally got the thing turned off (a very long story), and the battery out, and I used my blow dryer on the cool setting. With that treatment and then sitting on my dresser upstairs where it was nice and warm, the phone decided not to die. That is nice for me since to replace it would cost me $199. OUCH!

Adam's Education

So Adam had an IEP (individual educational plan) yesterday, with the current team of preschool educators working with him and the transitional kindergarten team for next year. I was so frustrated listening to the speech pathologist talk about what he is and isn't able to do. She told me that I should only try teaching him the sounds of the letters without attaching them to the letters themselves. I was surprised to hear that he wasn't "capable" of learning it the other way since I know that he could sound out the letters. So this morning I sat down with him and some alphabet flash cards. He only struggled with about 5 letters and the majority of the problem is the the speech problem. He really struggles to make some sounds correctly. So not only could he identify the letter itself, but also the sound of the letter, and he could tell me a word that began with the sound. *sigh* So I'm going to have a talk with the new team, since I'm already inclined to be impressed with them, just by their interaction with him yesterday. I have never felt really impressed by the team working with Adam now, but I can't deny that he has made amazing progress. I'm also concerned with the fact that his teachers now want him to be evaluated for ADHD. I know that he's a busy child, no one knows that fact better, but all of the kids have been that way. I'm wondering if they aren't a little prejudiced. The good news is that even though he is a busy kid, he isn't a behavior problem. One thing I did have to point out to them is that when Adam is trying to be funny, he'll intentionally answer questions wrong. The speech therapist's answer to that was, "Well, he wouldn't do that away from home." I couldn't believe she would say that. Why would she think that that behavior would be restricted to home? He's going to have a wonderful time in school, especially during testing time. *voice dripping with sarcasm*

Sly Mommy and the Squishy Squashy Mac and Cheese

One thing that I've noticed about toddlers, especially those about 2 is that the more they like a food, the more the food covers their face. I think that they are in such a hurry to stuff the food into their mouth that they can't help but get it everywhere. Today was no exception.

My favorite part about today's lunch was my own slyness. Jon-Jon hates veggies. He'll eat some fruit, but vegetables never cross his lips. So a couple of weeks ago, I started getting sneaky. I would put squash in the macaroni and cheese. Today I pureed a whole bunch of squash, then added about 1 1/2 cups of the pureed squash into the mac and cheese. Then to make it even better, I added a cup of shredded mozzarella. I tried it, and it be truthful, I couldn't taste the squash over the powdered cheese flavoring. Jon couldn't eat it fast enough. He ate 3 helpings of the stuff. The first bowl, he ate with his spoon, but the 2 and 3rd helpings he just crammed in with his hands. Adam also enjoyed his, but not to the same extent. Unfortunately, the pictures don't do justice to the amount of squishy squashy mac and cheese that was all over Jon-Jon's face.

Oh, on a completely different note.... It's snowing again. *sigh*

More Wednesday news

This mornings weight in was great. I lost 3 pounds last week. Eric lost one. So I'm down 17 and he's down 13. We've lost 30 pounds together. The problem I'm discovering now is that when I do push-ups or crunches my c-section scar tissue really hurts. I should probably talk with a doctor about that.

Braden is home with a horrible cough this morning. It's the same cough that Adam had last week, so I'm scared that it will be making the rounds in our family.

Oh, I did have my hair cut. 6+ inches shorter now!

Adam amuses and Visitors

You might have noticed a funny thing about Adam's hair in the last post. Adam started wearing Emma's headbands around the house. I was curious so I asked him why he was wearing Emma's headband.. His answer was "I'm Nephi." (For those of you who aren't LDS, Nephi is a Book of Mormon prophet who lived on the American continent around 600 BC.) OK, so even though Eric is a little disturbed by the headband, I guess I'm not going to discourage my son from wanting to imitate a prophet of God.

In other news, my sister Heidi and her family will be arriving this afternoon. My children are really excited because we usually only see the Davis cousins when we go to Idaho. It will be fun to have them on our turf. She will be bringing her husband Justin, her daughter Abby (who's birthday is today) and her new daughter Daphne. This will be the first time that we get to meet little Daphne.

Beautiful Day at the Park

We love the park! Yesterday I took Jon to the park. Today was so beautiful that I took Adam and Jon to the park for a lunch date with their cousin, Abi. Rachel brought Abi to the park and we had lunch. It was so fun..


I just downloaded some pictures from my cell phone. The pictures below are from the night that we picked up Eric from Parent/Teacher Conferences. I love the picture of the three boys at the wipe board, as well as the picture of Jon having a kiddie sized Frosty in the large desk. Braden was very proud of his long division problem. He's decided that long division is COOL! I had to add the picture at the bottom of Eric and Braden (at Eric's school) when Braden was Jon's age.

The Sun is Shining!

After a very long winter, the sun is shining today. The snow is melting. My tulips and daffodils are starting to push up from the ground. Unfortunately, there is supposed to be another storm this afternoon. I'm hoping for rain, but I think we will be getting more snow.

Eric is getting over a cold, but I think I'm picking it up. I feel really tired and sluggish today. I'm trying to be enthusiastic, but it's a struggle. Eric and I weighed in this morning. We both lost 3 pounds last week. I'm at a loss of twelve pounds and Eric is 10 pounds down. The most exciting news is that I am wearing a pair of pants that I couldn't even get buttoned a month ago. Yes, the button wouldn't even come near the buttonhole. I was on cloud 9 this morning. These pants are 4 sizes smaller than the others. Hurray! The only problem now is that I won't have any clothes that fit, but I don't want to buy any more because I fully intend to lose more weight. ;)

Adam wants me to let him type his name.. So here we go:

aaaaaaadaam

More snow and other items of business

We have MORE snow, only about 3 inches, but my yard was just beginning to show signs of grass around the edges. Oh well, we will appreciate the water in the summer.

Emma's 2nd grade program was last night. She was one of about 20 children who had a spoken part. She did a great job, her voice was lovely. The program focused on Martin Luther King Jr and they sang several musical numbers. Here's a picture I took right before the program started.




I didn't realize until I had taken the picture that Emma is considerably shorter than her friends. (yes, she's the one in the middle.) She looked very cute. Her teacher, Mrs. Roylance, is in the back. Emma LOVES her teacher. (Drama is at new heights recently. Last week, Eric diagnosed her with a case of dramafeminitis.)

Speaking of cute. We have two more children who love the camera. Eric's parents swear that this is a trait they inherited from him. I guess he used to jump out into any picture he could. We were used to Braden doing that, but now Adam and Jon both want their turns..

They start posing whenever I get my cell phone out. It was even more fun taking video of them..

Braden had pack meeting last night as well. He earned the maps and compass belt loop, the swimming belt loop, a bead toward his Bear badge, and the Religion Knot patch. Next month, he will have earned his Bear and several arrowpoints. I'll have to get a good picture of him in his uniform so that he doesn't feel left out.

Needless to say, even by our busy standards, yesterday was a doosy. Both Pack Meeting and the 2nd grade program were at 7, and Emma had gymnastics from 4:30 to 6.

Oh, and finally to end with, Eric and I weighed in this morning. I lost 7 pounds in the month of January and he lost 5! CONGRATS to us!

Wednesday Morning

We are having a lazy Wednesday morning. Adam and Jon are watching the new favorite PBS show, "Super Why."

http://pbskids.org/superwhy/index.html

Check out the above link for more information.

The numbers are in

The numbers are in... Eric and I both lost 2 pounds last week... So I'm down 6 and he's down 4.

This morning I will be going to the school to watch Braden help with a flag ceremony for the Utah County PTA Council meeting. He looks so cute in his uniform. I'll try to get a picture.

I got a picture, but you can't see much since it was taken with my camera phone and Adam was sitting on my lap squirming. Braden is the one on the right.