Happy Halloween!!

I found my favorite Jack-o-latern!!!



Just Brilliant!!

Stop in the Name of Love!!

Before you break my heart.....


Wow! Look at that hair.
Look at that skin tone.
Oh - so - not - very -
um... Natural Me!!

Apparently, these pictures were taken long before I became the editor of the Natural Me Fun Note Ezine. Check out the Halloween issue!!



Oh my god ~ these pictures are so funny to me! I was dressing up to go work at a smokey lung clogging bar and I remember running late because I didn't realize how long it would take to get the brown makeup all over my face, chest, back, arms and even my hands! My permanently intoxicated boss was so impressed with my "Diana Ross" get-up that she didn't even mind that I was late and that I didn't wash any dishes all night in fear that my hands would come off!




You know even though I was covered in phthalates, I was still looking so incredibly HOT that night that I even got an Amish guy to hook up with me!!

Whoo hooo!
Happy Halloween!

Loving My Sister!!

Betsy!

Today my little sister & I finally got to hang out!

We chilled at her house and did a little Feng Shui Rearrange at her house. It was the longest amount of time we've spent together in a long time ~ the boys played nice and so did we.... Amazing!

That picture was taken when I was pregnant at our grandparents 50th Anniversary Party!

My Grandpa Tony passed away just a few months later.

Missing You Chico!

My Mom and Dad.




Ayden took pictures of his mom and dad!

Amazing what his parents look like from
his 3 foot 3 inch eye-view!

I think we look great without heads!

Starting a Sticker Chart for Good/Bad Behavior

Well, the time has come to start a chart. I guess I realized something new needed to be incorporated into our daily routine when his first day at the new semester of Story Time was a ...ummm ....disaster. Really, he did laps around the room, avoiding me and my "be quiet" requests and then he kicked the teacher during the monkey/alligator song when the alligator goes SNAP. It was crazy for both of us.

I think it's normal for a 3 year old to be somewhat oblivious to his mother at times but, for his own safety when we are out, Ayden needs to start listening a little better so Dad & I came up with this chart....


There are 4 columns: Clean Up, Eat, Listen, Out and the Out column is divided into when we are outside, out at the store or out at storytime/playgroup.

The concept of the chart is to reward Ayden's good behavior with stickers and many words of praise and to work towards a weekly goal of being good and then we celebrate on Sunday when he gets to pick a prize out of the Prize Bag! This is also a great opportunity to learn the days of the week.

To address the negative behaviors of not listening and running off, we were just giving him some Time-Outs but now along with the Time-Out, he'll also get an X on his sticker chart so he can SEE his bad behavior.

Ayden is responding SO WELL to the chart! I've seen a major improvement at Story Time and overall listening. He is eating better which means he is playing less with his food - he's always eaten good, but when he was done eating, he would start massaging the food onto his face or throw it on the floor. Sometimes I would let it go, I mean, I DO KNOW how good yogurt can feel on your cheeks! But it is time to be a little less rude at the table as far as throwing food at your mum. grrrr...

Other things I did to help our outings to the library & Story Time were to talk with him right before we go in and I have him sit on my lap as we sit on the floor. Yes all the other moms are in their chairs as I am on the floor with my little guy but that's what works for us. We just went yesterday and his teacher commented on how great he is doing. Sigh of relief! Although during the monkey/alligator song, she did look "prepared" to block any 3yr old kung fu kicks - just in case.

We also dropped out of a few other things because we really need more time at home and a much more relaxed schedule.

This gives us more time for independent play like making homemade play dough with flour, salt and water. Just mix the 3 together until it feels like clay.

In this picture we added turmeric for a nice yellow color! Next time I think we will try to make green with kelp or spirulina!