Discovery Cove

This sloth was there to greet us when we arrived at Discovery  Cove. They also took a complimentary family photo that I still need to scan in. We didn't plan on pictures and thought we'd be going right into the water so no one's hair was fixed up for it.

After we got suited up, we went to join the line for breakfast.  Breakfast, lunch and unlimited snacks were provided  at no extra cost.

This is the Grand Reef. It's salt water and it was really cold! That's probably why we got such reduced rates for this time of year.

We all ended up trading in our wet suits for vests at some time during the day. I traded in right away because I didn't have enough arm movement in the wet suit. I had the biggest one they had at the time. The bigger ones were all given out by time I went to trade out so I got a vest instead. Jessica got a vest  because the wet suit made her too bouyant and she couldn't dive to the bottom.

There were all kinds of colorful fish along with sting rays. You could swim right up to the sting rays and pet them.

The lazy river was a lot warmer. It was up to 8 feet deep in spots.

Jasmine

Jessica 8 feet down.

Me 8 feet down. It was easier to dive in the river than the reef because the river is fresh water and the reef is salt water.

Lunch.  Many choices. And you could go back repeatedly between 11&3:00.

Talapia and jambalya.

Entertainment at lunch.

Jasmine had really bad stomach pains this whole trip. They started on our last trip, the first week of October and she's had them off and on since. She didn't eat the whole day which was sad since there were so many choices. But if she even took a bite, she immediately had pain and nausea. I need to set an appointment for her but her pediatrician left and the new one is not so great. And figuring out stomach pains can be difficult anyway.

I gave out earlier than the others, so I showered out and read for the last hour while they went back to swim by the otters.

I hope to go back again (during a cheap season--it gets increasingly expensive as it warms up in the spring) and take the twins. They need better listening skills and more control around food before this trip. Stronger swimming skills would be a plus too. We did not pay the extra to swim with the dolphins and the kids were fine with that. When they saw other groups swimming with the dolphins they realized it wouldn't have been worth $100 a person. You don't get the dolphin to yourself. You go in as a whole group.

It was a really cool day with lots of share experiences--and of course some sibling squabbles or it wouldn't be real life!

The Older Ones

I am setting this to post while I'm gone. I'm (hopefully) in Orlando with Tyler, Jessica and Jasmine. Our Disney passes run out next week. Ty doesn't have one so he's going to hang out at the hotel while we go to Disney Saturday afternoon and evening. Then on Sunday we are going to Discovery Cove. In case you are wondering how we have money to do all this, we don't! We live on a tight budget. But last year about this time I got my advance on a book coming out in July. I used that to buy everyone in the house at the time a cheap Florida resident Disney pass. Those who wanted to upgrade did so with their own money. Tyler wasn't here so he didn't get one. At that time we assumed he'd be back in college this fall. Adam only used his ONE day so I wish they were transferable. For Discovery Cove I booked ahead for their November extremely reduced prices.  How many people want to snorkel in November? We aren't doing the dolphin swim part. I had enough reward points from traveling this summer to get a really nice room in Orlando. Coming and going we stop at the cheap hotels and since no one likes to share beds, they bring sleeping bags and half sleep on the floor. We take our food with us. The kids don't mind because they know this is the only way we can do the things we do.

Anyway, the purpose of this post is to update everyone on the older kids. Such a time of change for them. When you're raising little ones everything seems so crucial--whether or not they talk on time, walk on time, potty train before preschool and so on. Sometimes the comparison game gets brutal when you have children with delays.

But then they hit their school years, teen years and young adult years, and you look back and laugh at how seriously you took the early stuff. If you're parenting young children it may not seem that way right now. But, for instance, I parent the twins differently because I've been the whole road with the older ones and it helps put those earlier problems in perspective. I've also learned not to take their behavior issues personally and that  helps. And we are definitely dealing with issues with one more than the other.

But, on to the older ones.

Tyler has been living at home since the beginning of May. He has not gotten a job. The aspergers makes interviewing difficult. He can't make up answers to questions on the spot, he doesn't read people or emotions well. He doesn't have the natural charm a couple of mine have. Basically, he can't play the game. 

He talked to the USAF recruiter about going in the Air Force and he has the ability. They gave him the ASVAB and he did great. Then they found out about the aspergers and it was all over. He's not on any medications and is not in any counseling, but they didn't care about that.

So we've been looking into Job Corps for him. It's a residential program where you can get training in many areas. The career field you choose determines where you go. For some reason Tyler has decided he wants to do welding. That is kind of out of the blue because he's always wanted to work with computers in the past. I don't know if he really realizes how much work welding is. He went to orientation. He went to his interview. He's turned in almost all his paperwork. Now we wait to see if he's in. If so, welding is in Kentucky. That's about 600 miles north of us, or 10-11 hours. But it would be a good experience for him. And I might be able to talk my sister into visiting him too because she's in northern Indiana so only about six hours from there.

I'm not sure when we'll have a definite answer about Job Corps.

As I write this Friday morning, Jessica is on a scuba dive to a sunken shipwreck. She is loving the scuba and her ear is holding up. Yay! That was the only concern. She's done several different kind of dives. She has a night dive next Monday. That was our original day to go to Discovery Cove because it's during Thanksgiving vacation but there is a dive, and it is mandatory. I wouldn't want her to miss it anyway. Since we found out before we were inside the 30-day time frame, we were able to change dates without a penalty. The water is COLD this time of year even here in the Florida panhandle. My brother sent money so Jessica was able to buy a wetsuit for the remainder of her dives. (I hope she remembers to have someone take a picture of her in it so she can send it to him!) They'd lent her one, but it didn't have sleeves so she was pretty cold each dive. I'm glad she has the wetsuit this morning because it's 50F right now, going to 72F later, but it's a fairly deep dive.

A few weeks ago something occurred to me that Jessica might want to do and after looking into it, she's pretty excited. But there were a few glitches so she hasn't announced it yet, so I won't either. But I'm hoping for her because it could mean big opportunities. We'll know by Christmas so you'll know by Christmas.

Jeff was home from October 24-31. He initiated the visit because he's leaving for Afghanistan in December. He ran the army ten mile race in Washington D.C. He said it was hard because there were several thousand runner (at least 20,000) so the front people got a fast start but it took a while for the rest of the pack to spread out and take off. Even though your personal time didn't start until you went over the start time, it was hard to get moving. He did it in 57:33 which means he ran the whole ten miles in under six minutes a mile!! He was third in his age group.Not sure how many were in that group.

Jeff seems to be doing well in the Army. He wants to do special forces, and I know that if he sets that as a goal and focus on doing what he needs to in order to accomplish it, he will. He is very capable. He always has been, but he let behavioral issues over run his life earlier, even up until the time he enlisted. He may not be living by all the values we'd hope for, but he is making his way. 

Those of you who have older adopted children with attachment issues probably where we're at. He does well when he's here for visits, but he's never really attached to us or even the people who worked with him for several years. They just don't realize it because they don't understand attachment and don't realize what they think is attachment is really phony charm. But Jeff is safe, happy and succeeding within the structured environment of the army. I'm glad we have the chance to get to know him as an adult and cheer him on.

Jeff in D.C.

Since Jeff will be in Afghanistan over Christmas, we had him pick his Christmas presents now.  Lest that look like a small pile, the two hats to the right of the picture were $52 alone!!  Glad I had him pick it all because his taste in clothes is way different than either Tyler or Adam. With Jeff and Adam it's all about brand; with Tyler it's all about comfort.

Adam thought last week (district) was his last race because only the top 13 go on to regionals. But he placed 12th so he's not done. The top runner from his school was unable to run, but even so, Adam would have been 13th and still made it. So Adam will run in Tallahassee tomorrow. He's not too excited because he knows he's going to be "blown away." I told him not to worry about that, but just try to beat his PR of 18:4. I told him to get me a 17:52. He might. He hasn't been able to get under 18:00 but maybe the tough competition will effect his time.

Adam made the soccer team so is juggling cross country and soccer. Also school work and his job. There are a few issues with this that he needs to work out, but he will. He's finally getting it and seeing all he can became. Yay! I've always told him that when he gets it figured out he's going to be amazing and unstoppable. 
He's starting to believe me and it's starting to show!

Track starts sometime after Christmas. Hopefully not until soccer ends, but they may overlap. I guess it will keep him busy!

Adam will go to Marine boot camp next August and then be in reserves while he attends college. At least that's the plan for now. He doesn't know his career field yet.

That's my update on these four for now. All four have exciting changes ahead!

Over the Years

I've made each of the kids a photo book that briefly covers their whole like up to graduation and I've given it to them right after graduation (along with the traditional money of course!). I've started looking through albums for pictures of Adam and along the way I took out our old family portraits and had Rick scan them in. We did not do them every year, and many years we only did ones of the kids without Rick and I.

1989 North Dakota--Wow were we a lot younger back then! The two of us were the whole family at this time.

1990 North Dakota--how in the world did I get my hair to stay like that?

1992 South Dakota

1994 South Dakota-I had a lot of hair back then! Remember the huge eye glasses in the 80's and 90's?

1998 England-I love the coloring in this one--both the background and our clothes. We often pick blue and rose as our colors. That's why I did the teal (or whatever color that was) and the purple for our newest portrait. 1998's portrait was the first portrait that had Jeff and Adam. Jeff had only been home a short while.

January 2007 Florida, Adam's 12th birthday, we left for Disney right after this. We had a church directory portrait in  GA where I was wearing the same exact shirts, but Rick was missing from it so I'm not including it. I did three portraits of just the kids between the England one and this one but not with Rick and I in them.

March 2011--Really like the colors in this one too and the darker background. Jasmine had the expanders in her neck at this time. It was painful for her to move her neck to look at the camera.

October 2012

October 2012 Not sure if I like this one or the March 2011 one better. What do you think? Same family members in both.

Sigh

What a gracious speech. Mitt Romney would have made a great leader--he believes in God and family and our country and so does Paul Ryan. I hope there are good things in store for them.

Chick Fil A or not?

Chick Fil A is my favorite for anything chicken. Mostly because it really tastes like chicken, not filler. They also give out a lot of free coupons for chicken sandwiches or kids'-sized ice cream. But according to the locator map, Chick Fil A isn't in all 50 states. So, do you have Chick Fil A or not (please include what state or country you are in)? If not, what's your favorite fast food restaurant? And if you have Chick Fil A and it's not your favorite, what is?

Be sure to go back a post and see what the kids cooked in October. And leave a favorite recipe if you have one that is simple they could make.

What's Cooking?

Tyler was pretty excited about cooking in October because of a recipe he found online. Check it out HERE and HERE

These meat cupcakes can have a lot of different ingredients stuffed in the middle!

After cooking the are frosted with mashed potatoes.

Jasmine made upside down meat pie.

Upside Down Meat Pie
1 lb ground beef                               1 tsp mustard
1/2 cup chopped celery                    1 1/2 cups biscuit mix
1/2 cup chopped onion                     1/3 cup cold water                 
1/4 cup chopped green pepper         3 slices cheese cut in half diagonally
1 can condensed tomato soup
In 10" oven-proof skillet brown beef and cook celery, onion and green pepper until tender. Stir to separate meat. drain well. Stir in soup and mustard. Combine biscuit mix and water, roll or pat dough into a circle slightly smaller than skillet. Spread meat mixture evenly in skillet, top with biscuit dough. Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes until browned. Turn upside down on platter. Top with cheese. Cut in wedges and serve.
Makes 6 servings. 

Kaleb made foil wrapped taco chicken, a recipe which we originally got from another blog. (Thanks Tanya)

Foil Wrapped Taco Chicken

Boneless chicken breast (or half) per person

Taco seasoning

Potatoes peeled and thinly sliced (a half of large or whole small per person)

Salsa

Shredded Mexican cheese

Sour cream

Preheat oven 400F. Place serving of potato slices on a large piece of foil for each person. Cut the chicken into strips and put one portion on each foil on top of the potatoes. Sprinkle with taco seasoning. (Per individual taste) Add one tablespoon of salsa and shredded cheese to each. Wrap the foil over the chicken mixture. Place on cookie sheet and bake 30-35 minutes or until the chicken is thoroughly cooked. Release steam and let stand five minutes. Serve with sour cream.

We kid that Kaleb's love language is food. I really think it is!

Jessica cooked several different things throughout the month.

Peanut Butter Pie

4 oz cream cheese

1 c confectioner's sugar, sifted

1 c crunchy peanut butter

1/2 c milk

8 oz whipped topping, thawed

1 deep dish graham crusts

whipped topping

chocolate syrup

In a large bowl, combine cream cheese and confectioner's sugar. Mix well. Add peanut butter and mix. Slowly add milk and mix well. Fold in whipped topping. Pour into pie crusts and cover. Freeze for at least 30 minutes. Pipe extra whipped topping around edge of the pie. Drizzle with chocolate syrup.

She made a jello dessert with cherries and Coke but we decided not to add that recipe to our collection.

She also made sloppy joes one day when everyone had to eat on the run.

And she made gingerbread pancakes and sausages one morning.

She also made stir fry for me! Is she amazing or what? She has full time college, part time work, church etc and still manages to help out.

Jasmine cooked a second time by default. (I had everything set out for one child to cook but he arrived home 90 minutes late so it was too late to cook and the other one who still needed to cook in October was not having a good day at all). Jasmine's a great helper!

Easy Enchiladas 

1 lb boneless chicken breasts cubed

10 ¾ oz can cream of chicken soup

1 c thick and chunky salsa

8 flour torillas (6")

10 ¾ oz can condensed cheddar cheese soup

Cook chicken in skillet until browned. Add chicken soup (no water added) and 1/2c salsa. Heat through. Spoon about 1/3c chicken mixture down one side of each tortillas. Roll up and place seam-side down in 2 qt microwave-safe baking dish. Mix cheese soup (no water added) and remaining salsa. Pour over tortillas. Microwave on high 5 minutes or until hot. Serves 4.

So, what did you all eat in October that's easy to make?