They Survived the First Day

Well both my children survived the first day of school. Jacquie didn't get up on time for her first college class, but made it there in time to keep the class. I think she was told she can only do 2 classes this semester (Math and Spanish) she is not happy, she wanted to take 4 classes. But (form what I understand) when you have financial aid, if you mess up your classes you get penalized for the next semester. That is what happened to her, she ended up dropping a class last semester and she appealed it, but didn't win the appeal.
Nichole was very happy to get back to school. She saw a lot of her old friends and everyone was happy to see everyone.

Starting the School Year Off Right

First make sure your child has all the school supplies he/she needs for the first day of school. What I found out when my children started school, was that you really don't know exactly what they need until they get to school. The teacher usually tells them the first day of school. Some schools have a list at local stores so you can get the basics, but not all the time are they accurate. My suggestion is to let them get a few essentials, but wait for the majority of supplies when the teacher tells them the first day of school. But then of course there is a mad dash to the store to probably find everything is not there. But your going to find that anyway you do it.

First Day Of School and Pregnant

Yes my 17 year old daughter is starting her junior year of high school and she is 4 months pregnant. She ended her sophomore year finding out she was pregnant, so most of her friends already knows she is pregnant. Which is better (I think) for her, so she doesn't have to explain herself right off the bat why her stomach is a little bit bigger. Yes this has been a trying time for us in our household this summer. But we survived it. Nichole was first with her news of being pregnant and then our 22 year old (with boyfriend and baby) moved in with us to get back on their feet. Which we were fine with. It is slightly crowded, but we are all dealing with it. Truthfully I like having my grandson here everyday. I am not looking forward to them finding a place. I do know they have to for their own sanity. It does get a little hectic, but (in my opinion) all worth it.
So the next phase of our live is having a new grandchild in January 2010. At first (I have to be honest) I was not happy. To say the least, but it has since grown on me. I feel no one should go through a pregnancy depressed, so I had to get with the program ( and I did). On Thursday of this week we are going to find out the sex. We are all pretty excited about that. Nichole and I think it is totally a girl, but a lot of others feel it is a boy.

School Days Fast Breakfast

It was always hectic in the mornings in my house when my kids were in grade school. I usually just "made" them a bowl of cereal or toast or a pop tart. That was before the days of the computer, where you can find all kinds of recipes for all sorts of things. I read and use recipes a whole lot. I am definitely a recipe user. Our family just had this conversation the other day about recipe users and nonrecipe users. I can not just throw a meal together and use all kind of spices and just come up with something.
But I can definitely follow a recipe. You know not all people can follow a recipe and the dish come out edible...lol.
So I went looking around for sites for children friendly recipes. I found this one for breakfast in the morning that didn't seem hard or took a long time to make. I found this recipe at (CDKitchen).

Strawberry Breakfast Pizza Recipe

Ingredients:

1 package (10-count size) refrigerated biscuits
1 Orange
1 package (8 ounce size) light cream cheese, softened
5 teaspoons Honey, divided
1/2 liter Basket fresh strawberries, stemmed and halved

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400F. Stack 2 biscuits; roll out to a 6-inch circle, 1/8-inch thick. Place on ungreased baking sheet. Prick all over with fork. Repeat with remaining biscuits to make 5 circles in all. Bake until golden, 6 to 8 minutes; loosen and cool slightly.

Finely grate peel from orange. In bowl beat cheese, peel and 3 teaspoons of the honey to blend; set aside.

Juice orange into large bowl. Add strawberries and the remaining honey; toss.

Increase oven temperature to 425F. Spread biscuits with cheese to within 1/2 inch of edges. Bake until cheese edges brown lightly. Top with drained strawberries. Serve warm.

This recipe from CDKitchen for Strawberry Breakfast Pizza serves/makes 5

There is an alien in my house

I know some of you know exactly what I mean. I have a 17 year old daughter, Nichole, and she has changed so much in the past year and a half. She has went from being a mama's girl to a daddy's everything mode. I can do no right where she is concerned. She is huffing and a puffing with every remark she has to say to "me". Not her father. Oh no. He basically does no wrong. I don't know exactly when or why this happened. But I am so losing my patience with it.

She is also having my second grandchild in January. And yes granted it, it is a little worrisome with all that is happening. It actually came from left field. No one really expected it. But things do happen. This family deals with or troubles the best way we can. We do try to pull it together. But I must say it hasn't been easy with other family members. To be honest it wasn't easy for me, and still isn't "easy", to except. But it is my grandchild and I will love he or she just as much as Trystin, our first grandchild. Its just going to be alot of work on everybodys part. That is why it is so hard to deal with all this bad behavior from Nichole. Excpecially for me and my other daughter, Jacquie. Because we will probably being the ones taking up alot of the slack. We still want Nichole to finish her highschool and work part time. So alot of the babysitting is going to fall on me. But with her attitude, its hard to want to. I really hope her attitude changes, for the better, soon. Or she is pushing us away. We love her so much.

So that is a little what is going on in my life. I really wish I had some readers already on this blog, so I can get some feedback. It would be nice to hear someone elses views on issues. Well i am sure it will happen soon.

That First Day Of School

I now only have a teenager starting school. She (Nichole) had moved to a different school midyear last year. That was the turning point for her. I know not everyone that has a problem with school can just change schools. But my Nichole was having behavioral problems and I felt the teachers tagged her as a problem child. So we looked into The Academy for Arts and Science and found it to be our solution for Nichole. She went from making D's and F's to (no bull) making A's and 1 B. So needless to say, she is actually looking forward to going back to school.

My Toddler Won't Eat

I remember when my children (Jacquie and Nichole) were little ones and they wouldn't eat. It made me worry. I thought they wouldn't get enough nutrition. And I remember the doctor telling me that they would eat when they were hungry. I eventually saw that he was right.

Well now my daughter (Jaquie) is going through the same thing with my 23month old grandson (Trystin). He can go days on just breakfast. Breakfast is the one meal we really don't have trouble with. But lunches and dinner, they are the worst. But when i am babysitting and he won't eat, i will wait awhile and give him something nutrious for a snack. Like i will feed him fruit or yogurt or something else that is nutrious. My daughter (Jacquie) and son-in-law (Steve) don't really always agree with this, because Trystin might just not eat what is for dinner and wait for the snack. Well I am grandma after all not mommy and daddy. That is just what i do, because i think something nutrious is better than nothing at all.

HELP--The baby has colic

It is not uncommon for newborn babies to go through periods when they appear abnormally irritable or seemingly cry for no reason. However, if you suspect your baby is suffering from colic, you may look for the following symptoms:


--symptoms occur around the same time each day or night, often after meal times, and usually ending as abruptly as they be
--shows signs of gas discomfort and abdominal bloating
has a hard, distended stomach, with knees pulled to the chest, clenched fists, flailing arms and legs, and an arched back
--experiences frequent sleeplessness, irritability and fussiness
cries vigorously for long periods, despite efforts to console

In most cases, colic is the worst pain a baby has thus experienced. It is usually manifested as an acute abdominal pain with intense spasmodic cramping, but since colicky babies cannot describe exactly what distresses them, it is hard for parents to know the precise cause of their distress. Infantile colic is most common in the first few weeks to four months of an infant's life; rarely does it endure past six months of age.

Pediatricians often use the "Rule of Three" to diagnose colic: "A baby that cries for three or more hours per day, at least three times per week, within a three month period". Wess, et al., "Paroxysmas fussing in infancy." Pediatrics 1984:74:998. About 25 percent of babies worldwide meet the official "Rule of Threes" criteria for medical diagnosis of colic.