Weight Loss Challenge Week 3

There they are! Week 3 of the Weight Loss challenge is over and so far we have lost a little more than those two handsome fellas! Together they weigh 62 pounds and my family has lost a total of 64.5! Whoo Hoo! Way to go everyone!

This week the standings have once again changed. Still in 1st place is Jason, even after a little peanut butter induced gain. With a big loss this week Jesse has regained 2nd place but not far behind is Ea, with an equally big loss! I had a rough week and posted a small loss that was only good enough for 4th! BooHoo! I guess I better hit that treadmill this week!

Everyone else is doing great! Jason was the only one to post a gain but seeing that he posted such big numbers in the beginning it was bound to happen. Keep up the good work and lets keep this going!

Another Meeting!

We had another meeting at the school about Brandon. I'm pretty sure that I wasn't the only one that left that room a little disappointed. The occupational therapist denied him therapy! She claims that his score of an 87 on his tests was within the average range(85 to 115) although on the low end! No F-ing Sh*t! He scored very low on the visual end but higher on the motor end but it all averaged out! Then she goes on to tell us that he scored a 1% and a 2% on two different visual tests! Really??? THEN she says that while they recognise he has a problem that the school cannot recommend occupational therapy but he would do better with a more specific visual therapy! Oops guess what??? The school doesn't pay for that! It's a private out of pocket expense, if we choose to go that route!
OK that's the bad news! The good new is the psychologist is totally excited to evaluate Brandon further. It seems to me that Brandon is one big experiment to him. I'm not sure if experiment is the right word. I think he is very interested to find out what is causing his strange abilities and non-abilities. He knows that Brandon has a big problem and he wants to make sure he gets an IEP(individual education program) to help him all through school. I really like this guy.
One of the things he started with was a questionnaire for Jason and I. Questions like: Did I have any trouble during his pregnancy or delivery? Did he have any illnesses or injuries? When did he first walk...talk...? Things like that. Then he is going to interview all his teachers. Gym teacher, music teacher and so on.
There is a lot more involved to this but I'm tired and don't want to go into it all. I do think that Brandon's teacher was a little upset that all of this is taking so long. She definitely sees that he is struggling but the psychologist pretty much told her that her hands are tied and she would just have to wait! I'm tired of waiting too!
This time around they also gave us a big thick booklet of all this legal mumbo jumbo. Just in case we decide to contest what they are doing or something. I don't know!
The one thing I did get from all this is what a great kid Brandon is! Ok, I already knew that but it is nice to have it reinforced by everyone else. He doesn't give up! I know I would especially after Wednesday...They have these end of the month parties in each class. They have goals to meet or they don't get to attend the party. Well Brandon didn't make it this month because he failed a reading test! I don't know all the details but this really pissed me off! I know they can't really make exceptions for one kid but damn it they know he has a learning disability! Breaks my heart!

Crap!

Monday might have been a crappy day but I still hate Tuesdays more! Of course, on Monday I was running late. As I got up the road the car started to die. Crap! I called Jason and turned around. I was going to just get his truck but I knew the car needed fixed and Jason is on his end of the week to work. So I took a personal day. It's paid, which is a good thing after the bill I paid today!
The engine light came on so I figured it was something with that. Ernie drove the Escape down to Village and when we got there he told me he thought I had a wheel bearing going bad! Crap! Ernie dropped me off at home and I waited. While waiting I caught up on a lot of shows that I had DVR'ed and caught up on reading some magazines from as far back as Thanksgiving! That was productive! Then they called about the car....$200 and some for the wheel bearing thing and $200 and some for the engine coil that went bad. That's the second one for me. Do you think it's from running the piss out of my car?? What can I say? I hate flying but I sure love driving fast(bonus points if you remember what movie that's from)!
Then I asked her about the ABS thing. She said she didn't remember me saying anything about that! Uh, yeah, you and Ernie were too busy flapping your gums! She said they would check that and get back to me. So 5 o'clock comes and no car. They had to keep it an extra day! Crap! Good thing my grandma loves me and let me borrow her car! I sure did miss my 4 wheel drive as I was sitting on the hill outside my house at 20 after 5 this morning spinning Grandma's tires! Crap! Oh well made it to work and home just fine.
Mom took me to get it this evening. Holy I guess there goes my mattress savings Batman! I suppose I need a vehicle way more than a new mattress. BTW it drives lovely! But they told me I need new front tires and a serious alignment! Crap!

Week 2 Of the Weight Loss Challenge

You are probably wondering why on Earth I started off a post about weight loss with a picture of the handsome 5 year old. Well, this is how much weight my family has lost after 2 weeks! That's right! Actually a little more. Brayden weighs 43 pounds and we have lost 49.5 pounds so far! Way to go everyone!

After 2 weeks Jason is in the lead, of course, but there has been a change for second place...Drum Roll please......It's me! Whoo Hoo! I passed Jesse! According to Jesse it's because of a backup in the plumbing department! Whatever! Stacy also managed to pass Jesse for third place! Everyone else is doing great and so far not one person has gained!

A few things to keep in mind during this contest:

We are doing percents to keep it fair. If we did pounds the guys would probably kill us. Plus the ones with more to loose would do better.

Jason, Ea and I are all doing South Beach. That means that we will probably loose big in the beginning but might taper off near the end.

As long as everyone has lost we are all winners!

Keep up the good work!

Happy New Year!

I thought I'd use that title since I haven't written a post since last year! Let's see....what has been going on around here?
I'll start with Jarrett. His basketball is going pretty well. They started off with a win and then lost their next game. I think all the boys are improving. Basketball is way different than football. Not just the game silly but the crowd and the coaching. Jarrett's coach is great! He knows just how to handle the boys. He doesn't have a kid on the team and all the boys get equal playing time. The crowds are much quieter. I did get pissed last week because one of the moms from our team yelled at Jarrett to guard the tallest, best player on the other team better. Back off sister! This is his first year and he is still learning! All the boys are! The parents are there to be supportive and give advice to their own kid not someone elses! I could go on a nasty rant but I won't!
On to Brandon. He was sick yesterday. I took him to Walmart and he kept leaning on everything. He said he was really tired. By the time I got through the checkout he was pale as can be with super red cheeks! He got in the car while I started to load the groceries. Then all the sudden I hear him gaging and I yell for him to open the door. That was it, bologna and cheese all over the parking lot! He felt better and was pretty proud of himself for making the birds happy! Gross! He threw up on and off for the next few hours and then he was all better. He didn't feel bad at all and never had a fever. Now I'm waiting for the rest of us to get it!
We won't find anything out with the school till the end of the month. I wrote the teacher a note right after break because I feel the school is not moving fast enough. I guess I'm really more mad at myself for not pushing all this harder in second grade. Poor Brandon! I have learned a new way to do his Math. I take the paper and he is not allowed to look at it. He gets the answers so much quicker and easier if he is not looking at it! Works for me!
As for our New Years Resolutions.....My whole family started a weight loss challenge. It started on January 10th. We all weighed in and will weigh in once a week. So far after the first week Jason is winning! Duh! He didn't get the name Annie the Anorexic for nothing! I think in the long run I can take him! I'll keep you updated on our progress. The first week everyone lost weight so we are already on the right track! Way to go Mom, Grandma, Jason, Ea, Jesse, and Stacy!

Christmas 2009 Attempt #2

I promise I won't get pissy this time! LOL

So far we have been to 6 family Christmas parties! That's a lot of family!

It all starts on Christmas Eve at Jason's parents house. We had lasagna for dinner and opened presents. Ea and Jesse have been adopted into that family so they were there too!

Jason and Jesse guarding tree!

All the boys! Kevin's girls won't be home till this week and then we get to have Christmas party #7!

After that it was off for home so Santa could come!(I'll post a no kids allowed post about that later)

It didn't take long for the boys to rip through all those presents! Then it was off to grandma Norma's.Going to Grandma's house for Christmas breakfast has been a tradition for as long as I can remember! Even having no power in 2004 couldn't stop us! We cram a lot of family into grandma's little house but it is still great! It does seem like the stairs are shrinking, though!

After that it's off to Mom's! I know two boys that will not be getting silly string in their stockings next year!LOL

After that it was definitely nap time before dinner at Moms.

Saturday my Dad's Mom came down from Cleveland. We don't get to spend that much time with Grandma Margie but when we do it's nice!

We had that little party up at Stacy's house so I got to sample the girls new fingernail polish! What do you think?

I'm a fan of the blue! I even got some in my stocking!

Yesterday was Wonsick family Christmas over at Jason's parents house. After that the kids went to the movies with Grandma Norma, Mom, Stacy, and Ea! They went to see the Squeekual. Jason and I did some house cleaning and watched The Hangover. It was pretty funny! Definitely not for the kids!

Today is lay around the house and go nowhere day! I might venture out to get the mail but probably not! Oh shoot Jarrett does have basketball practice. I know I can get Jason to take him but I will have to go get him! Crap! Oh well! Maybe tomorrow will be lay around and go nowhere day!

Christmas 2009

I could do a whole long "after Christmas post" about how it's not about the gifts but the spending time with family that matters but I won't! It doesn't matter because people don't listen and just continue to hurt innocent people.
So I will share in all the fun Christmas excitement by showing you all the loving pictures I took the last two days!
Ok never mind! That will have to wait till later! Right now as I sit here thinking about what I want to write, nothing but hateful things are coming in my mind! So I will post those pictures on Facebook for those of you that can see them and I will try to write nice things later!

A New Lesson To Learn!

I debated on whether or not to write this post. This topic has caused a little bit of tension here before. But you know me and if you don't like it, don't read!
For months now we have been hearing that Jarrett is getting a new kid in his class. The kid is from Smithville so he asked Matthew if he knew who it was. He didn't. Jarrett's class is already big enough. 29 kids to one teacher. Anyway the subject went away because we hadn't heard anything for a while.
Fast forward to Thursday. We are in the car on our way home from school when my, not by birth, son starts to tell a black joke. Ok not funny! They all laugh and I yelled at them. Then my oldest, by birth, son tells one of his own. Great! So I start into my tirade. Where did you hear those? Do you think those are funny? Then I made them sit in the car while I gave my speech. I walked into the house shaking my head. What brought this on?
Thursday was Jarrett's birthday and we had a school Christmas concert that night so the situation got pushed to the back of my head only to resurface on the ride home from the concert. Here's how it went.....
Me- Jarrett has the new kid started yet?
jarrett-No.
Me- Is he going to start after the new year?
Jarrett- Yes SHE is going to start after the new year.
Me- Oh, you know that it's a girl. Do you know her name?
Jarrett- Yes it's Deshauna, Deniqua or something like that.
I just turned my head and looked at my Mom. That's how all this started. The teacher told them they were getting a new student and must have told them that she was black. So I questioned Jarrett further and learned that all the Amish kids were calling her names and starting all the jokes. I then went into another one of my speeches.
Fast forward to Friday night. Brandon, Jarrett and I were on our way to WallyWorld in Millersburg. jingle Bells came on the radio so Brandon started to sing the "new version" that he learned in school. It starts out....jingle Bells, shot gun shells, Granny had a gun, pulled the trigger and shot a....i got irate! Brandon couldn't remember past the Granny had a gun part but I asked him what Granny shot and he asked me if it was bad and he if wasn't supposed to say it. I asked him to tell me and he did. Yep it was the N word. I told Brandon never, never, never to say that word! Then Jarrett piped up from the backseat and told me that it was the Amish word for black person. Um, no it's not! Then came another speech!
I know the boys had heard some of this during the presidential election but I didn't know it was this bad. I guess we just have to do the best we can as parents and hope that we have more influence on our children then the other school kids do!

12 Years Already????

From this little cutie.....

To this handsome fella....

All in 12 short years!

Happy 12th Birthday Jarrett!

Has It Really Been That Long???

All the Christmas preparations are in full swing around here! It has been busy, busy, busy! My shopping is almost done. I will never say that it is completely done because I can always find something else to buy! My Christmas cards are done. The cookies will be made this weekend and I will attempt to make fudge. Last years attempt was a big, rock hard FAIL!
In addition to Christmas, My oldest son has a birthday this Thursday. He will be 12! Can you believe it? He is growing like a weed. He has passed Grandma Sis and I think he is as tall as Grandma Karen. I had to go buy him basketball shoes and had to get a size 10! Really? I threatened to chop his toes off! The worst off all happened Wednesday night(I know he probably doesn't want me to tell you this but what are Moms for?). I was trimming his toenails and he had dark toe hair!! Whaaaaa! My baby is growing up!
I wonder if Jarrett will want an Eclipse birthday cake??? What do you think, Kristy?
As for Brandon.....Homework is worse than ever. He is slowly slipping farther away and I don't know how to fix it. Really what I want to do is do it all for him. That will eliminate all the fighting, stress and crying! I hope they come up with a solution soon!
Other than that there is not much going on. I hope all of your Holiday preparations are going as well.