Ham and Squash Bake - Semi Home Made Recipe

Ingredients:

2 Cups Diced Ham

2 Medium Yellow Squash

2 Medium Zucchini

1 Box of Scalloped Potatoes

2 Tbs Real Butter

1/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese

Directions:

1. Follow Directions on Box of Potatoes
2. Before putting in oven, mix in ham...
3. Layer Squash on top, I alternated the two for an aesthetic value...
4. Melt Butter and drizzle over squash
5. Shake cheese over top
6. Bake as directed... I left mine in a bit longer for the cheese to brown on top

My family devoured this, so this will be a new regular in our home... My kids LOVE squash!

Rainbow Cake!

So we came to the end of our Home Schooling week of weather and Noah's Ark.

We were supposed to make windsocks and rainbow cake on Friday, but I was a little under the weather... no pun intended...

So Saturday, come hell or high water, again no pun intended, ( ok maybe a little pun intended) we at least got to make our rainbow cake. I still did not get to the windsocks, as it is raining cats and dogs from Tropical Storm Debbie...

Maybe we will save those for another day...

Anywho, our cake experiment was awesome! Skylar and I did the whole thing ourselves and the boys reaped the benefits.. But it was a great lesson, not only for home making skills, but for her to learn math and deal with texture ( the Aspergers in her HATES texture!) She was able to dip her hand in the Crisco and spread it on the baking pan. She measured out the ingredients and because I dont have a 1 Cup measure she had to figure out how to make 1 1/4 cup water... She had to find 6 bowls and make the rainbow colors out of food coloring, then she had to mix each bowl until they were all mixed in.

We layered all the colors in order, gave the pan a shimmy shake, then crossed our fingers and hoped it worked.

End result?

It worked amazing, so much so, that I jumped for joy at how awesome it was!!

And then everyone enjoyed the cake...

Until my hubby mentioned that our poop may be rainbow colored! LOL!!
Only in my family!!

Here are the photos we took of the progress of the cake!

Recipe - Thanksgiving casserole

Ingredients

1 Lb Ground Turkey

1 Bag of shredded cheddar cheese

1 Can of Cream of Mushroom Soup

4 TBS Milk

1 Can of Green Beans

Tater Tots or Sweet Potato Fries ( I used both)

Directions:

1. Cook Turkey until no longer pink.

2. Add Cream of Mushroom Soup.

3. Transfer to a baking dish.

4. Layer Green Beans on top.

5. Layer Cheese on top of beans.

6 Arrange tots or fries on top of cheese.

7. Cook 30 Min on 350 degrees

My kids gave this two thumbs up!! Enjoy!!

Weather and Noah's Ark, with a side of Ham

We started Home Schooling today, or as my daughter likes to call it - Torture.

This week we are working on Weather and Noah's Ark. Because we are starting mid week, I did a quick run down of Noah's story today. The kids sat at the table and hung on my every word. Not exactly as I thought it would go, Oh Happy Day! Skylar even shushed Eli who was busy banging his cup on the table, so she could hear the story. Whose kids are these? Torture? Yeah right!!

So I allowed Sky to pick out three sheets of paper work to work on, out of the 20 I printed ( I over guessed the work I needed). And worked on tracer pages with Dakota, and coloring pages for Eli.

Skylar did the work without complaining... seriously, where is my daughter??

Dakota was not enthused with the tracing but did it anyways and counted the umbrellas that he did trace!

Eli was so excited to color he bit the colored pencil with joy!

I asked Sky when all said and done if she learned something new today ( everyone knows the Noah's Ark Story, right?)
Her reply? : Noah's age, 40 days of rain, how big the ark was, and the names of Noahs sons, she loved the name Ham and giggled about it for at least an hour. She also never knew a raven was mentioned and then ran off to google if a raven was a crow.

So I say that this day was a win! Tomorrow I promised an art project, in which we will do a windsock...
And Friday we will be making a rainbow cake, which I think I am more excited about then the kids!

Stay tuned!!

She loves when I take her picture!

Eating his pencil.. thats fiber, right?

Our Morning Chart

Blog Hop - Say Cheese!!

Our Prompt for our Blog Hop this week is SAY CHEESE! Let's have some photos - just post some fun pictures that have a connection with disability

So here they are in all their cheesy goodness~~

Everyday Living...

My Pookies

My men

Dakota and that tongue!

Halloween

Buddy Walk

I really hope you enjoyed these! My family is pretty amazing! And there is never a dull moment! Life is about the small things, those little things that are so huge that they change your life! We love those moments, but dont always have a camera close by!


Thanks for looking! Come back soon!

Publix Trip - 6/18/12

SPENT - $110.83
SAVED -  $100.91

I got a few things with out coupons so that is why I was a bit over! :)

Here is what I got:

Breyers Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream
Breyers Mint Oreo Cookie Ice Cream
Breyers Oreo Cookie Ice Cream
Breyers Cherry Vanilla Ice Cream
4 Ore Ida Sweet Potato Fries
Ore Ida Onion Rings
Ore Ida Curly Fries
3 Packs of Perdue Chicken Breast
Gallon Of Milk ( NO coupon)
Gallon of OJ ( NO Coupon)
New York Pita Chips ( No coupon)
Publix Hummus ( No coupon) * Yes I Shopped Hungry, I do not recommend this!
Publix Cream Cheese ( No coupon)
4 Oscar Meyer Lunchables
2 Oscar Meyer Hot Dog Packs
2 Popsicle Yosicle Torpedos
2 Hormel Pork Roasts
4 Wise Potato Chips
4 Packs of Oscar Meyer Bologna
2 Packs of Thomas Bagels
2 Boxes of Carnation Instant Breakfast
2 Packs of Maxwell House Coffee
Bag of Salad Peppers ( No coupon)
Publix Strawberry Jam ( No coupon)
Publix Grape Jam ( No Coupon) * We are a house divided... I like grape and hubs likes strawberry
Ken's French Dressing
Ken's Italian Dressing
Wheat Thins Toasted Chips Veggie
Wheat Thins Toasted Chips Plain
2 Old El Paso Fajita Kits
4 Jars of Ragu Spaghetti Sauce
2 Cans of Libby Sweet Peas
2 Cans of Libby Green Beans
2 Boxes Near East Rice Pilaf
Bag of Vidalia Onions ( no coupon)

Blog Hop: My son IS the sport!

Wednesday Blog Hop:
With With A Little Moxie

Prompt:What is your take on therapy or Early Intervention from birth to 3 years old? 

Well, as you know Dakota is 6 now, so Early Intervention was a few years ago for us. But I do believe that it was crucial to my sons development.

We were lucky enough to have a program called Early Steps, which is run through All Childrens Hospital. We immediately signed up as soon as Dakota was born. And they sent out a team of therapists right away!! I wondered at first what in the world they were going to work on when my son was less then a month old. But I was a new "Special Needs" mom back then. I had no clue as to the world I was about to enter, of therapies, doctor visits, etc...

All that being said, they worked on a lot. They worked on his strength, his endurance, his feeding and even just played with him and reassured me, it was all going to be fine.

They saw Dakota through learning to roll, crawl, stand and walk. They saw him through bottle feeding, spoon feeding and self feeding. They saw him through learning to brush his teeth, learning to mold with play doh and learning to hold a crayon. Together we discovered allergies, that he is left handed and that he is very very stubborn. We were a team. And Dakota was our sport. We had to learn him, how he plays, his weaknesses and his strengths. We had to learn the best plan of attack to be the best player on the team. And now, well we are still learning from him, as he is an ever changing sport! HAHA

Dakota still gets therapies weekly, but no longer are we in Early Steps. No longer do we have the same therapists even. But we still act as a team. We all want the same for him. To be able to be an independent man.

But right now, I am happy and satisfied in knowing, he still needs his mommy a little bit longer.

A HUGE thank you to those who have helped us along the way!!

Home Made Glue

Ok, So I am NO Martha Stewart... But I have to admit I felt pretty crafty after making this Home Made Glue that I found on Pinterest!!

I pinned this page: Homemade Natural Glue

And stuck to her recipe, which was:

1 Cup Flour
1 1/2 Cup Water
1/3 Cup Sugar
1 Tsp Vinegar

I heated it up like instructed and put it in a canning jar. Which I then put in the fridge so it stays good. I dont know what it would do bad, but I am not gonna wanna find out!! So far its holding paper together well, which is all I needed it for anyways! SCORE!!

This will help with all the gluing I intend to do with the kids over the summer, and if they should happen to ingest it, its all natural! It may be gross but there are no chemicals!  SCORE!!

Dakota's 1st Grade Graduation

Ok, so I know graduating 1st Grade isn't a real big deal. But Dakota attends an exceptional education school, and they celebrate every achievement, no matter how small.

Dakota's award was for best hugger :) And that he is!!!

I can not believe next year he will be in second grade! That just blows my mind!

So today starts summer for us which has a long list of to-do's which include but aren't limited to: potty training (UGH) and dabbling in some homeschooling...

Bring it on!!!

Pork Chop Stew - Recipe

Ingredients:

6 pork loin chops 4 tbsp. flour 2 tbsp. oil 6 med. potatoes, cubed 1 med. onion, chopped 1 sm. cabbage, cut in thin wedges (optional) 4 carrots, diced 1 Cup Sliced Mushrooms 1/4 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. pepper 2 tsp. chicken bouillon granules 1/4 c. water 1 can (14 1/2 oz.) sliced stewed tomatoes 1/2 c. sour cream 2 tbsp. cornstarch Directions: 1. Trim fat from chops. Coat with 2 tablespoons flour. Brown chops in oil over medium heat. 2. Place potatoes, onion and carrots in slow cooker. Sprinkle remaining flour over and toss to coat. Layer over potato mixture, in order, cabbage, Mushrooms, salt, pepper, chops, bouillon, 1/4 cup water and stewed tomatoes with juice. Do Not Stir. 3. Cover and cook on high 3 1/2-4 hours or on low for 7-8 hours. 4. Optional: In small saucepan, stir sour cream and cornstarch until smooth. Measure cooking liquid and add enough water or milk to equal 1 1/2 cups. Stir into saucepan. Cook and stir over medium heat until thick and mixture comes to a boil. Serve with chops.

Blog Hop: What did you just call my kid?

BLOG HOP

Topic: What have people said that has gotten under your skin about Down Syndrome - and what do you want them to say instead?

What NOT to call my child:

Down's Kid

Mongoloid

Retard

Idiot

Dummy

Stupid

Freak

What NOT to say or ask me:

I'm Sorry.

Did you know? What would you have done if you knew?

Wow, thats awful.

Poor kid, poor you.

Can they fix that?

Is it catchy?

What's wrong with him?

*Disclaimer* I do not at all mind you asking questions about him. I LOVE answering questions, because that means I am creating awareness. But the questions above are just rude and unnecessary. And I will not entertain them. And if you do happen to ask me something above, you may be met with a really bad attitude or a really sarcastic answer, depending on my mood.

Ugh, just writing stuff like that, makes my skin just crawl!! And I get asked these things on a weekly basis. At the grocery store, at the mall, at a play date, on the beach. There is no where he or I are safe. What a world we live in, where my son seems to be the side show! I long for a world who stops making fun of those who are just a little different. Yeah, I said a little different. The only thing that separates him from us is 1 little stinking chromosome. One little tiny thing that is so ridiculously minute that it shouldnt even matter. 

Look, God makes NO mistakes. He made children with Down Syndrome FOR A REASON. They have a purpose. And if it is to humble people like me, or show people what unconditional love is, or to have a snuggle buddy for life, then that purpose has been achieved. But I still think there is a bigger purpose. I still think there is so much more to be done out there for Down Syndrome. EVERYONE who has met my son, has noticed the twinkle in his eye and his intoxicating laugh. They go to him for the best hugs, and go to him so that their day is suddenly brightened. Heck, he has way more friends then I do. 

I know I used to be one of those people. You know, the one who stares and possibly whispers. Well, I'm going to be transparent here, I still stare, but for a completely different reason... I stare now, because I want to make a friend, a friend with someone who is in the club... The Down Syndrome Parents club. Cause when our kids are born, we are silently initiated. And we just automatically belong. We can find each other in a crowd. We have a magnetic force that brings us together no matter where we are at, or what we are doing. We laugh and cry about all our trials and triumphs. We just... well we just understand! But before that club. I was like you. And I am ashamed.

When Dakota was born. And Down Syndrome left my lips like poison, I sat in stunned silence. A whirlwind of what ifs took me over. But when they placed him in my arms. I knew my life had just changed. And here we are 6 years later, and my life is still changing daily. I hope one day, yours will too.

So what exactly do you call my son?

His name is Dakota. And he happens to have Down Syndrome, and if you are lucky enough, you can call him:

"FRIEND"

Publix Trip 06/01/12

Today I didn't save as much as usual - BUT the reason why, is because we were out of a lot of the basics, that I had to have and were either not on sale or I didn't have a coupon for...

I spent : $177.54 and Saved: $129.10

Here is what I got:

1 - 12 pack of cherry coke ( this was a splurge item)
6 - Birds Eye Meal in a Bags
1 - XL bag of Frozen French Fries ( this is a basic for us)
4 - Hot Pocket Snackers
1 - Bag of Perdue Chicken Nuggets ( this is a basic for us)
4 - Oscar Meyer Lunchables
4 - Packs Of Plumrose Turkey Breast Deli Meat
2 - I cant Believe its Not Butter
2 - Boxes of Welch's Fruit Snacks ( this is a basic for us)
4 - Packs of Ground Turkey Meat
6 - Large Boxes of Pop Tarts ( when i got home I realized there was a coupon on them I could have used, DANG IT)
2 - Bags of Bugles Chips
2 - Packs of Boneless Pork Chops
1 - Bag of Dunkin Donuts Coffee ( splurge for us)
2 - Bags of Bread
1 - Jar of Salsa ( Skylars Request)
4 - Variety Snack Packs ( Cheeze Its, Chips Ahoy, Graham Crackers Etc for school lunch)
1 - Bag of Tostito's Scoops Chips ( Skylars Request)
4 - Boxes of Cheerios
2 - Packs of Oscar Meyer Bologna
1 - Bag of Baby Carrots
1 - Bag of Cheetos Puffs ( Splurge Item)
1 - Pack of White Mushrooms
2 - Jars of EVOO
2 - Bags of Salad Mix Fresh Express
1 - Bunch of Bananas
1 - Bag of Grapes
2 - Boxes of Taco Bells Taco Kits
2 - Peter Pan Peanut Butters
4 - Packs of Oreos
2 - Publix Subs ( total splurge)
1 Jar of Yellow Mustard ( Basic for us)

This was my round up... Still good if I do say so myself!!