Ireland review

a few things about the week Jonathan was in Ireland

* Yes I can take care of the kids for a week without Jonathan- it was hard, but I did it.

*I dont mind when Jonathan is gone and I can reach him...but the worst part of this trip was the time difference, not being able to talk with him when I wanted.

*He said he saw the sun once while he was there.  Its always grey skies, overcast, and cold.

*Its very green and beautiful...just like the movies

*Jonathan said the food was amazing.  Everything is locally grown.  

*He worked a lot, and didnt get out as much as he would have liked to do sightseeing, but had a fabulous time.

Crack Canyon- Goblin Valley

Do I believe him?

You know I thought to myself he could be ANYWHERE....maybe hes not in Ireland? Haha. 

 

a few updates

• Jonathan is in Ireland.  Lucky guy.  We miss him terribly.
• We applied to have Elijiah return to Lordes next year. 
• There have been some set backs with Tristans behavior. 
• With the warmer weather- Ive been itching to start up on the home improvements again.
• I must resist.
• Soccer has started again.  Its going to be a long 2.5 months
• Seeing a different Dr at the end of the month.  Perhaps a new perspective/treatment is what we need to help with the baby thing...
• Took Eijiah skiing the other day...best time just he and I.
• Its all about the superheros around our house.
• Elijiah asked if I "combed" my face.  He said it was because there are so many wrinkles on it. To which I was immediately offended but realized he is speaking the truth.  FACE LIFT TIME?  Not sure --but its time for Botox immediately.

Will this work?

As I have mentioned we are working through some budget adjustments with the introduction of Tristans new diet.  It almost doubled our monthly grocery bill in the last 6 weeks.  So in looking at ways we could reduce OUR grocery buying ( as Tristans stuff lets be honest...there are no short cuts) I found this website and will be giving it a go.  Its basically a place where they do the work to find the best deals around, put together healthy meals and provide shopping lists and Ad Matching opportunities.  Well I have no idea how much I saved- but I gave it a go this past weekend.  I only bought what was absolutely neccessary, did the ad matching at the checkout stand and while I did save money - I no way bought the amount of food they show on the blog for the same cost.  So Im still a bit mystified on how folks do this...but its a start.  And if I saved 5-10 bucks then GREAT. 

In all we had a pretty good weekend.  Took the boys to airborne( the indoor trampoline park) on Saturday for an hour.  BEST money ever spent and they had an absolute blast.  But sunday morning was insane.  Tristan has a reward system for taking naps and sleeping in his bed at night.  After 7-10 days he gets a toy, coloring book, or something of the like.  Well he got to the part on his chart that indicated he gets a toy...and he wanted it NOW.  THAT very instant that he woke up.  What happened was a complete meltdown of epic porportion for over an hour before church.  Needless to say we were almost an hour LATE for church dealing with this tantrum.  He doesnt get the concept of patience, or "later".  However as Jonathan posted to Facebook....we need to remember that he is, and often can be, an angel as the picture below captures. 

Visit with Noellie

February has flown by!!  We had a lovely visit with this one and her mom -and the house is a little less bright when shes gone.

As usual we didnt get as many pictures in with everyone ( although we got a lot at Christmas) so its all good.

Saw movies, relaxed, took T sledding, went to Church, baked and cooked tons( which meant we ate a bunch too)

and in all had a fabulous time.

Success

I realize that I haven’t shared the recent success of our new diet for Tristan and the remarkable changes it has made in our home.

First off let me say that its HARD. Taking out sugar from a diet, along with everything else we are doing requires dedication, time, and planning. Think going back 60 years where mothers made everything from scratch and there was no convenience foods. We have to buy lots of organic foods and much of what we are buying isn’t available in many stores. We are going to specialty food places for those items and its costing us about double our normal food budget each week.( Hello monthly budget!~ Its totally blown!) Snacks have to be prepared and thought of ahead of time. Dinners are planned. I did do this most often, but I wouldn’t hesitate to grab a can of salsa for instance and now EVERYTHING I cook I have to do from scratch, or look at labels first. Tristans “treats” include frozen organic yogurt, or coconut ice cream. The up side? Tristan has turned into a different child almost overnight. Hes had one minor temper tantrum in the last 3 weeks. He is sleeping better, sleeping longer. Hes much more calm. Doesn’t run around the house and jump on furniture, "freak" out or go "crazy". We have had feedback that hes more focused and stays on task. So while I didn’t follow the ADHD diet to a “T”- we have followed it pretty close. Its amazing when you read labels how everything includes sugar/dyes/preservatives. Even stuff I didn’t think about like mayo, salad dressing, ketchup. We pack his food, send “approved” snacks to school and church and pretty much have him aware of what he can and cannot not have. Tristan now asks ” Mom can I have this?” or “Does this have sugar?” Hes taken his new diet like a champ and hasn’t complained. Hes eating less as the food hes consuming is keeping him more full, and giving him more energy. In all- its been a huge SUCCESS!