Just finalized everything and changed the first two visits. Here's the final schedule for when we'll be in michigan this year, should anyone want to plan their visits to coincide :)
March 13-15 (visiting Sam on the 14th)
June 12-14
September 17-20 (17th will be in Jonesville, 18 and 19 at Sam's)
October 30, 31 and November 1
December 18-21
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Ice!
I had a request for ice pictures... so here some are. It's still freezing rain right now, and expected to be freezing rain/sleet/snow all night and for the better part of tomorrow. What fun! School was obviously closed today. My work was still open but my boss told me I didn't have to come in (so I didn't). It didn't make sense for me to drive out in this crap to only work 3 hours and then have to drive home in even worse crap.
I'll be willing to bet school is closed tomorrow too. My boss said they might close work tomorrow too, if it continues this mess. So, fortunately, Owen and I get to stay home where it's nice and warm. Jason had to go to work today but only for a couple hours. He should be back shortly.
This is right next to my car, after I got it cleared off.
This is how thick the ice was on my car.
Tire/driveway picture
Side of the house (actually not too bad because it was protected from one side)
Down the street one way. The intersection right there is HORRIBLE. The entire time I was out clearing my car there was not one single car that either went right through the intersection or couldn't get going again once they stopped.
And down the other direction.
I'll be willing to bet school is closed tomorrow too. My boss said they might close work tomorrow too, if it continues this mess. So, fortunately, Owen and I get to stay home where it's nice and warm. Jason had to go to work today but only for a couple hours. He should be back shortly.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Basketball
Owen decided he wanted to play basketball recently. One of our local YMCA's has a basketball program for special needs kids. Sounds great, right? To sweeten the deal even more, Owen's favorite daycare teacher is a volunteer for it. Owen was thrilled to learn this and really wanted to play! After trying soccer a couple times (which he also "really wanted to play") we weren't too sure. But, I'll never tell him that he can't try something, ya know? I want to encourage him to try anything he wants to do. So....
Last Saturday was the first day.
So, we've figured out that he does well before the game and after the game. But during the game? Not so much. He doesn't even want to be on the court during the game. Here is a video of him during last weeks game.
Last Saturday was the first day.
"Ummmm.... what do I do??"
"Oh, this is cool!" He scored! (That was one of the volunteers holding him. His daycare teacher was in the above picture in pink)
Jumping over cones? Even COOLER than playing basketball!
Wrong way Owen!
After the game, Jason helped him shoot some more. Score!
These next 2 are totally random pictures but they were taken today so I figured I'd post them.... painting the train Aunt Allison gave him....
And here's basketball from today.... they brought in smaller hoops (yay!) and Owen scored! (This was actually before the game, during "practice").
Running around and causing trouble (pulling the hoops down).
One of the volunteers helping him block.
After the game... Jason showing him how it's done.
And Owen's turn....
So determined!
Yay!
So, we've figured out that he does well before the game and after the game. But during the game? Not so much. He doesn't even want to be on the court during the game. Here is a video of him during last weeks game.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
We're going to....
Disney World! We booked it last night :) We've been throwing around the idea for a little while and finally decided with my tax return being what it is (thanks little dependent Owen!) we would go for it. Owen's thrilled! We spent some time last night on the website letting him see pictures and videos of the different rides and stuff. He was so thrilled with most of it. A few things he said were too scary.
So, here's what we know so far...
We're leaving April 18th and getting there the 19th. We're leaving to come home on the 26th and getting home on the 27th. On the night of the 18th and 26th we'll be staying somewhere... probably in Alabama... but I don't know where yet. It's about a 12-13 hour drive, or so say the online maps, so we could do it in one day, but don't really want to! The 6-7 hour drive to Michigan is about as much as I can handle (but Owen does those beautifully with not a complaint at all.... he could do 12-13 hour trips no problem... I'm the whiner!).
We're staying at the All-Star Sports hotel. We originally wanted the All-Star Movies, but they were all booked. Bummer. But the Sports looks great too!
We'll probably go to Magic Kingdom more than any other. We'll also hit Animal Kingdom at least once. We might do Epcot and Hollywood Studios but if we do it'll probably only be a couple hours. Lots of cool stuff at both, but not too much appropriate for Owen. We have tickets for 7 days so we'll be there alot!
We also want to hit Typhoon Lagoon, which looks really cool, but is not included in the tickets we bought. Bummer! So we'll have to go find good prices on those tickets.
Sea World is another place we'll go.
That's about all for now....
So, here's what we know so far...
We're leaving April 18th and getting there the 19th. We're leaving to come home on the 26th and getting home on the 27th. On the night of the 18th and 26th we'll be staying somewhere... probably in Alabama... but I don't know where yet. It's about a 12-13 hour drive, or so say the online maps, so we could do it in one day, but don't really want to! The 6-7 hour drive to Michigan is about as much as I can handle (but Owen does those beautifully with not a complaint at all.... he could do 12-13 hour trips no problem... I'm the whiner!).
We're staying at the All-Star Sports hotel. We originally wanted the All-Star Movies, but they were all booked. Bummer. But the Sports looks great too!
We'll probably go to Magic Kingdom more than any other. We'll also hit Animal Kingdom at least once. We might do Epcot and Hollywood Studios but if we do it'll probably only be a couple hours. Lots of cool stuff at both, but not too much appropriate for Owen. We have tickets for 7 days so we'll be there alot!
We also want to hit Typhoon Lagoon, which looks really cool, but is not included in the tickets we bought. Bummer! So we'll have to go find good prices on those tickets.
Sea World is another place we'll go.
That's about all for now....
Friday, January 16, 2009
Meijer trip
I haven't posted any good deals lately because, well, there haven't been many. With the holidays I pretty much just let it go and didn't do much with my coupons (other than let them stack up).
Anyway, this week Meijer is having a good sale, so I went there Sunday night. Here's what I got. I'll try to remember what things I got for free and mention those....
1.55lb bananas, .59/lb
1 Frozen breadsticks
1 Chex Mix (store paid me $.10 to take this)
2 Grands Biscuits
4 boxes of Green Giant frozen veggies
1 bag Green Giant veggies (freebie)
4 bags of Rice cakes
3 containers of blueberries
1 bunch of celery
2 English Cucumbers
2 bags of spinach fettuccini
2 boxes of pizza rolls (after all those veggies who could blame me??) (almost freebie)
1.72lb grapes
1 Lemonade
1 box Special K blueberry cereal (paid $.99)
1 box blueberry Frosted Mini Wheats cereal, (paid $.99)
1 pouch Betty Crocker cookie mix (almost freebie)
1 Pillsbury cinnamon roll
1 Pillsbury Crescent Roll
1 box Betty Crocker muffin mix (almost freebie)
2 boxes Cheez-it crackers (4 years later he still obsesses over them....)
1 box Nutri Grain bars
1 Tropicana orange juice
2 bags Dole Salad mixes
1 box granola bars (paid $.50)
1 box Yogos (Owen's BEGGED for months for these... finally went on sale so I bought them... only to come home to show them to him and be met with a "I don't want those...". Grrrr)
2 Lysol Flameless candles (FREEBIES!)
1 Airwick flameless candle (FREEBIE!)
Total before discounts/sales/coupons- $117.13
Total after discounts/sales/coupons- $40.22
Total savings- $76.91
Not as good as I like it to be (I like to save at least twice as much as I spend) BUT a couple of the things I got were not needed, and weren't necessarily on the best sale. Like the yogos (does Alexis like these, mom?), lemonade (splurge for me), cheez-it crackers (but lord help us all if the boy runs out).
I also had a good trip to Kroger on Wednesday, but I threw that receipt away. Bummer. I do remember I got 3 disposable cameras. I had thought about getting a couple for Owen for our Disney trip. I thought it would be fun for him to take pictures and to see what he sees. But at $5-6 each I was hesitant. Kroger had 3 left on their manager special shelf for $1 each! Only catch is they are best if used by April of this year. We're going to Disney in April so it should be fine :) I also got a couple of the Dole salad kits (we LOVE these... such an easy dinner!). They're usually around $4 each (which I REFUSE to pay!) but some were on managers special for $.69 each! Only catch is they expire this weekend, which is fine. We already ate one and will eat the other this weekend. Spinach was the same deal, either $.69 or $.99 for a bag (can't remember). I got 1lb ground chuck for $.99 and used that for dinner Wednesday.
As you can see, I have no issues with mangers specials ;) Sometimes. I'm really picky about meat though. But for things like the salad kits- that's a HUGE reduction, and we'll eat them before they go bad so it's fine and saves us a ton of money :) A couple weeks ago our Kroger had Quaker Oats instant oatmeal on their manager special (only Apple Cinnamon, which is my favorite!). They didn't expire until sometime in 2010. I couldn't for the life of me figure out why they were on manager special. So I asked. They said that someone messed up when ordering them and ordered WAY too many. So instead of storing them they just wanted to get rid of some. Cool. I bought 6 boxes for $.50 each!
Anyway.... I think that's all for now :)
Anyway, this week Meijer is having a good sale, so I went there Sunday night. Here's what I got. I'll try to remember what things I got for free and mention those....
1.55lb bananas, .59/lb
1 Frozen breadsticks
1 Chex Mix (store paid me $.10 to take this)
2 Grands Biscuits
4 boxes of Green Giant frozen veggies
1 bag Green Giant veggies (freebie)
4 bags of Rice cakes
3 containers of blueberries
1 bunch of celery
2 English Cucumbers
2 bags of spinach fettuccini
2 boxes of pizza rolls (after all those veggies who could blame me??) (almost freebie)
1.72lb grapes
1 Lemonade
1 box Special K blueberry cereal (paid $.99)
1 box blueberry Frosted Mini Wheats cereal, (paid $.99)
1 pouch Betty Crocker cookie mix (almost freebie)
1 Pillsbury cinnamon roll
1 Pillsbury Crescent Roll
1 box Betty Crocker muffin mix (almost freebie)
2 boxes Cheez-it crackers (4 years later he still obsesses over them....)
1 box Nutri Grain bars
1 Tropicana orange juice
2 bags Dole Salad mixes
1 box granola bars (paid $.50)
1 box Yogos (Owen's BEGGED for months for these... finally went on sale so I bought them... only to come home to show them to him and be met with a "I don't want those...". Grrrr)
2 Lysol Flameless candles (FREEBIES!)
1 Airwick flameless candle (FREEBIE!)
Total before discounts/sales/coupons- $117.13
Total after discounts/sales/coupons- $40.22
Total savings- $76.91
Not as good as I like it to be (I like to save at least twice as much as I spend) BUT a couple of the things I got were not needed, and weren't necessarily on the best sale. Like the yogos (does Alexis like these, mom?), lemonade (splurge for me), cheez-it crackers (but lord help us all if the boy runs out).
I also had a good trip to Kroger on Wednesday, but I threw that receipt away. Bummer. I do remember I got 3 disposable cameras. I had thought about getting a couple for Owen for our Disney trip. I thought it would be fun for him to take pictures and to see what he sees. But at $5-6 each I was hesitant. Kroger had 3 left on their manager special shelf for $1 each! Only catch is they are best if used by April of this year. We're going to Disney in April so it should be fine :) I also got a couple of the Dole salad kits (we LOVE these... such an easy dinner!). They're usually around $4 each (which I REFUSE to pay!) but some were on managers special for $.69 each! Only catch is they expire this weekend, which is fine. We already ate one and will eat the other this weekend. Spinach was the same deal, either $.69 or $.99 for a bag (can't remember). I got 1lb ground chuck for $.99 and used that for dinner Wednesday.
As you can see, I have no issues with mangers specials ;) Sometimes. I'm really picky about meat though. But for things like the salad kits- that's a HUGE reduction, and we'll eat them before they go bad so it's fine and saves us a ton of money :) A couple weeks ago our Kroger had Quaker Oats instant oatmeal on their manager special (only Apple Cinnamon, which is my favorite!). They didn't expire until sometime in 2010. I couldn't for the life of me figure out why they were on manager special. So I asked. They said that someone messed up when ordering them and ordered WAY too many. So instead of storing them they just wanted to get rid of some. Cool. I bought 6 boxes for $.50 each!
Anyway.... I think that's all for now :)
Monday, January 12, 2009
Pictures and updates and... stuff
Owen had a rough couple weeks around Christmas (what kid doesn't? His was just compounded by his other issues). It had gotten so bad that at one of his therapies he just sat under a big play structure (so underneath it was dark and somewhat quiet) with me, just rocking back and forth and mumbling echolalia phrases, for about 45 minutes. That was rock bottom for him (at least this time). His therapist and I discussed it and decided he would benefit from a dark, quiet spot at home. He has his bedroom, which he really likes going in there when he gets overwhelmed. But we thought he needed a spot specifically for when things get really bad.
So, I went home and cleared out the bottom of his closet and set up a quiet spot for him. We bought a bunch of new pillows (was going to get a bean bag chair but we can't fine one anywhere! Oh well, pillows were cheaper anyway!), put a blanket in there and his weighted lap blanket. He's also been really into planets and the solar system so we put up these posters that we found at a store for teachers/homeschoolers. He LOVES it.
When he feels himself getting out of control we can usually remind him of his quiet spot and he'll go there. Sometimes he needs a little bit of help to get him out of the situation, but once he's out of it he can usually calm down if left alone. It's working great so far, I'm definately glad we did it!
In other news.... Owen's ill. Again. Not too surprised, eh? Saturday afternoon he started developing a fever, snotty nose, cough, the works. Unfortunately I had gotten Jason tickets to a UK basketball game for Saturday for his birthday (which was Thursday). Jason's dad came over and watched Owen. We stopped by after the game, before we ran out to dinner, to check on Owen. He was doing okay, but definately getting ill. Yesterday (Sunday) he was a lot worse. Fever was around 103, coughing alot, snotty nose, etc. Today is not so bad. No fever but his cough is that deep in the chest and rattly cough. Not pleasant. He's just been laying around in our bed for 2 days watching movies. And, yes, he skipped school today :)
We have been working on our 2009 travel plans so here is the tentative schedule....
March 6, 7, 8 to Michigan (all the way up to Sam's)
June 5, 6, 7 to Michigan
September 17, 18, 19, 20 to Michigan (up to Sam's probably the 18/19).... SAM- can you look around and see if you can find hotels around there? Thanks!!
October 30, 31, November 1 to Michigan (gotta give Dad Halloween!)
December 18, 19, 20, 21 to Michigan for Christmas
Jason is confirming the time off with his boss as we speak and I'll go request time off work when I go in today. But those should be our Michigan trips for this year. Of course, everyone is welcome to come visit us here in Kentucky too :)
We are also 99% sure we're taking Owen to Disney World this year! He will be thrilled when we tell him!!!! He's been asking to go for awhile now. I am getting a really good tax refund this year (one of the perks of being a single mom and only working part time) so we decided to go this year. Right now we're 99% sure we'll be going April 18-27. We will leave the 18th, stay overnight in Alabama, get to Orlando on the 19th. We will leave to come home on the 26th, stay overnight in Alabama, get to Kentucky on the 27th. Disney is doing a promotion where if you buy the first 4 nights at a Disney hotel they give you the next 3 nights free. Can't beat that! So this may turn into my vacation planning blog for a little while and it might be flooded with Disney details :)
So, I went home and cleared out the bottom of his closet and set up a quiet spot for him. We bought a bunch of new pillows (was going to get a bean bag chair but we can't fine one anywhere! Oh well, pillows were cheaper anyway!), put a blanket in there and his weighted lap blanket. He's also been really into planets and the solar system so we put up these posters that we found at a store for teachers/homeschoolers. He LOVES it.
The glow in the dark star is one of those touch lights, but it sucks and ate all the batteries within 2 days. So now it's there for decoration and we got him one of those wind-up flashlights that don't take batteries!
He LOVES to sleep in here. This was taken before the posters were put up.
When he feels himself getting out of control we can usually remind him of his quiet spot and he'll go there. Sometimes he needs a little bit of help to get him out of the situation, but once he's out of it he can usually calm down if left alone. It's working great so far, I'm definately glad we did it!
In other news.... Owen's ill. Again. Not too surprised, eh? Saturday afternoon he started developing a fever, snotty nose, cough, the works. Unfortunately I had gotten Jason tickets to a UK basketball game for Saturday for his birthday (which was Thursday). Jason's dad came over and watched Owen. We stopped by after the game, before we ran out to dinner, to check on Owen. He was doing okay, but definately getting ill. Yesterday (Sunday) he was a lot worse. Fever was around 103, coughing alot, snotty nose, etc. Today is not so bad. No fever but his cough is that deep in the chest and rattly cough. Not pleasant. He's just been laying around in our bed for 2 days watching movies. And, yes, he skipped school today :)
We have been working on our 2009 travel plans so here is the tentative schedule....
March 6, 7, 8 to Michigan (all the way up to Sam's)
June 5, 6, 7 to Michigan
September 17, 18, 19, 20 to Michigan (up to Sam's probably the 18/19).... SAM- can you look around and see if you can find hotels around there? Thanks!!
October 30, 31, November 1 to Michigan (gotta give Dad Halloween!)
December 18, 19, 20, 21 to Michigan for Christmas
Jason is confirming the time off with his boss as we speak and I'll go request time off work when I go in today. But those should be our Michigan trips for this year. Of course, everyone is welcome to come visit us here in Kentucky too :)
We are also 99% sure we're taking Owen to Disney World this year! He will be thrilled when we tell him!!!! He's been asking to go for awhile now. I am getting a really good tax refund this year (one of the perks of being a single mom and only working part time) so we decided to go this year. Right now we're 99% sure we'll be going April 18-27. We will leave the 18th, stay overnight in Alabama, get to Orlando on the 19th. We will leave to come home on the 26th, stay overnight in Alabama, get to Kentucky on the 27th. Disney is doing a promotion where if you buy the first 4 nights at a Disney hotel they give you the next 3 nights free. Can't beat that! So this may turn into my vacation planning blog for a little while and it might be flooded with Disney details :)
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Happy New Year!
(Mom, I apologize in advance.... I tried to call you today but I think you were at work so I couldn't get ahold of you today).
I'll just cut to the chase... Jason and I are getting married!!!!
I know, it's a surprise, right? He proposed last night, shortly after midnight. Of course, I said yes :)
Here's a couple pictures of the ring. They aren't the greatest pictures, but it'll do for now until y'all can see it in real life :)
I know Allison wanted a story so here it is....
Not much story to tell.... I kinda ruined that one
So it goes back a little bit. We spent Thanksgiving with Jason's parents, Christmas Eve with his parents and had Christmas dinner with them. I like his parents, but come on. Enough is enough, right? I wanted New Years to be for us. I had asked him a few days earlier if he had plans for New Years Eve... nope, nothing. Cool, so I started planning (in my head). I had nothing actually done (yet) and hadn't told him (wanted it to be sort of a surprise, since he didn't have anything planned). New Years Eve day was busy- Owen had therapy in the morning (2 hours of OT, which the first hour was really intense and wore on me a lot... more about that another day), Jason had work in the morning. After therapy we met Jason for a quick lunch at Wendy's. He said he was done with work for the day (NOW I know that he told his boss he was going to propose that night so he let him go early ) so we all went back home. He had to fix something on his car real quick then we loaded up my car with a ton of stuff we were donating. He took the stuff to the church while I stayed home with Owen. When he got home is when things started getting not so pretty. It turns out he had been talking with his parents about dinner. He has a tradition in his family that they have steak on New Years Eve. Fine, whatever. But Jason's grill is broke. I bought him a new one for Christmas but then he got ill then I got ill and we just haven't had time to put it together yet. So he really wanted to go to his parents for dinner. I agreed, but I was PISSED. Note that he did ask me before telling his parents we would come so he didn't commit until I gave approval. I'll save all the hairy details but I will say it wasn't my finest moment, I feel horrible now and THAT is when I learned that he just wanted us to relax (which, to him, meant I wouldn't have to cook or clean anything) so that he could pop the question that night. He said he knew that we'd done a lot of his family traditions this past year so he wanted to start the new year off as one for just us, nobody else, and start our own traditions. DOH! Needless to say, I felt like the worlds biggest jerk. Anyway, we pulled ourselves together and went to his parents for dinner. Owen watched a movie while his mom, Jason and I played Scrabble. Then we went home and put Owen to bed.
This is getting longer than I thought.... LOL!
We had gotten a new bedding set for Christmas and we needed to deep clean our bedroom anyway (it needs to be kept super clean and has an air purifier in it so Jason can breathe easier, otherwise he's up coughing/wheezing all night from allergies/asthma). So after Owen was in bed we tore apart our room, moved all the furniture, cleaned everything, moved the furniture around just to change things up and put the new bedding/window stuff up. By the time we were done it was about 10 minutes to midnight. We went downstairs and prepared a drink just in time to toast to the new year and kiss
Then he took me back up to our bedroom (don't worry... still rated G....
). He had gotten me a nail care kit for Christmas. I had NO idea he actually had a plan for it.... lol. Anyway, he used it to make my nail a bit prettier, did his speech, pulled out the ring, and the rest is history. It didn't go exactly how he had planned (my bad ) but the end result was the same 
I'll just cut to the chase... Jason and I are getting married!!!!
I know, it's a surprise, right? He proposed last night, shortly after midnight. Of course, I said yes :)Here's a couple pictures of the ring. They aren't the greatest pictures, but it'll do for now until y'all can see it in real life :)
I know Allison wanted a story so here it is....
Not much story to tell.... I kinda ruined that one
So it goes back a little bit. We spent Thanksgiving with Jason's parents, Christmas Eve with his parents and had Christmas dinner with them. I like his parents, but come on. Enough is enough, right? I wanted New Years to be for us. I had asked him a few days earlier if he had plans for New Years Eve... nope, nothing. Cool, so I started planning (in my head). I had nothing actually done (yet) and hadn't told him (wanted it to be sort of a surprise, since he didn't have anything planned). New Years Eve day was busy- Owen had therapy in the morning (2 hours of OT, which the first hour was really intense and wore on me a lot... more about that another day), Jason had work in the morning. After therapy we met Jason for a quick lunch at Wendy's. He said he was done with work for the day (NOW I know that he told his boss he was going to propose that night so he let him go early
) so we all went back home. He had to fix something on his car real quick then we loaded up my car with a ton of stuff we were donating. He took the stuff to the church while I stayed home with Owen. When he got home is when things started getting not so pretty. It turns out he had been talking with his parents about dinner. He has a tradition in his family that they have steak on New Years Eve. Fine, whatever. But Jason's grill is broke. I bought him a new one for Christmas but then he got ill then I got ill and we just haven't had time to put it together yet. So he really wanted to go to his parents for dinner. I agreed, but I was PISSED. Note that he did ask me before telling his parents we would come so he didn't commit until I gave approval. I'll save all the hairy details but I will say it wasn't my finest moment, I feel horrible now and THAT is when I learned that he just wanted us to relax (which, to him, meant I wouldn't have to cook or clean anything) so that he could pop the question that night. He said he knew that we'd done a lot of his family traditions this past year so he wanted to start the new year off as one for just us, nobody else, and start our own traditions. DOH! Needless to say, I felt like the worlds biggest jerk. Anyway, we pulled ourselves together and went to his parents for dinner. Owen watched a movie while his mom, Jason and I played Scrabble. Then we went home and put Owen to bed.This is getting longer than I thought.... LOL!
We had gotten a new bedding set for Christmas and we needed to deep clean our bedroom anyway (it needs to be kept super clean and has an air purifier in it so Jason can breathe easier, otherwise he's up coughing/wheezing all night from allergies/asthma). So after Owen was in bed we tore apart our room, moved all the furniture, cleaned everything, moved the furniture around just to change things up and put the new bedding/window stuff up. By the time we were done it was about 10 minutes to midnight. We went downstairs and prepared a drink just in time to toast to the new year and kiss
Then he took me back up to our bedroom (don't worry... still rated G....
). He had gotten me a nail care kit for Christmas. I had NO idea he actually had a plan for it.... lol. Anyway, he used it to make my nail a bit prettier, did his speech, pulled out the ring, and the rest is history. It didn't go exactly how he had planned (my bad ) but the end result was the same
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