Cincinnati Zoo Field trip

So of course if you read my posts you know my girls do online school. Yesterday we attended a school field trip to the Cincinnati Zoo. It was a great experience.

We started off in the Animal Experience. We got to learn about and pet an armadillo, a ball python and a Turaco (a bird from Africa). This was very fun and educational and a great experience for the kids. I myself enjoyed it, but wasn't too fond of the snake.

After the animal experience we headed on over to the elephants. They were outside and eating some hay/straw. We got to learn about how they use their trunks and that they actually have 100,000 muscles that make up their trunks!! That truly is amazing.

Next we headed over to the Africa exhibit. First up was Giraffe ridge. They were being fed and just walking around. There are 2 baby giraffes whom are so cute. We also seen the lions, cheetahs (which is my 7 year olds favorite), spotted dogs, ostrich, meerkats and lots more.

Also in Africa is the very popular hippos. I am sure many of you have heard about our zoo's baby hippo, Fiona. She became pretty famous back in January when she was born premature. She is now 8 months old and doing amazing. She is just like any other baby hippo and was quite playful today when we seen her. She is so cute!!

Fiona is the main thing we really wanted to see, but enjoyed seeing the rest of the zoo. We seen big cats, lots of different primates (orangutans, bonobos, and more), bears and so many animals. We even somewhat got to see the baby rhino.

I love the fact our zoo in the children's zoo area has a nursery where they put some of the newborn animals where you can see them. Yesterday there were a bear-cat, armadillos, and bat-eared foxes.

We have a tradition we like to do when it comes to pictures. We have a membership, so we like to go at least once a month and we have different pictures we try to take at certain locations when we go. Today was no different. Here is one of our favorite photo spots.

If you haven't been and you are local or plan on coming to the area I would definitely recommend a trip to the Cincinnati Zoo. It truly is an amazing experience. We will be going a few more times this year. Be on the lookout for a post later in the year on the Festival of Lights.

World CP Day 2017

Today is World CP Day. You may ask, what is CP? For those who do not know Cerebral palsy is the most common childhood physical disability (affecting an average of one in every 500 people). There are over 17 million people living with CP, tens of millions of family members devoting their lives to the care of their loved ones, and tens of thousands of doctors and therapists involved in the

diagnosis and treatment of CP. Cerebral palsy (CP) is a neurological disorder that affects a person’s movements and muscle coordination. The severity and way a person is affected varies with each individual with CP. Different types affect different parts of the brain, therefor different symptoms and are affected differently. 

Ataxic Cerebral Palsy is one type. It is a rare type and affects only 5-10% of people with CP. It is caused by damage to the cerebellum.  Symptoms of this type include, walking with feet far apart, unsteady movements, tremors, and slow eye movements. Many people with ataxic CP also have feeding problems. Physical therapy is very important. Sometimes medicine may be prescribed to help with tremors.

Another type is Dyskinetic Athetoid CP/ This type is often noticed by its involuntary movements. This type is caused by damage to the basal ganglia of the brain. The 3 main symptoms are dystonia ( involuntary contractures of the muscles), athetosis (slow twitching movements), and chorea (irregular and involuntary movements). Pt and speech therapy are both very important in this type. Medicines may also help with muscle spasms. 

A third type is hypertonic CP. This type is caused by damage to the cerebellum and is marked by extremely stiff muscles. Symptoms of this type may include: scissor walking, stiff movement, muscle spasms, and uncoordinated movements. Again with this type, PT is very important. Medicines may help with stiffness and spasms and in extreme cases surgery may be needed. 

Then there is spastic diplegia (affecting arms and legs with legs usually being affected more) and spastic quadriplegia (affecting the enitre body and is the most severe). These types often cause the inability to walk, may cause seizures and may also cause loss of cognitive function. Usually OT,PT, and speech are all important. Medicines and surgery may also be used. 

There are also many associated disorders that come along with CP including seizres, cognitive disability, feeding and digestive issues, respiratory issues and so much more. CP is a very complex disorder and brings a lot a long with it.

There is so much to CP that I didn't know until having a child with this disorder. I have learned that we all need to educate ourselves and each other. We need to get awareness out and cut down on bullying and those not understanding. 

This is my CP hero. My baby boy is almost 5. You may not be able to tell looking at him, but yes he has CP, but CP doesn't have him!

Halloween

So it is October now and with it comes everything fall. One major thing a lot of us, especially those with kids think about is Halloween. Having 4 kids here Halloween is a big deal. The best part, besides getting all the candy, is getting to decide what everyone will dress up as.

Growing up I remember a lot of my costumes. Of course I don't remember, but growing up in a Disney household my first Halloween I was Minnie Mouse. Wasn't I cute?

I don't remember specific ages really, but I remember at different ages being a clown, raggedy Anne, a witch, a vampire, a dog, a dead bride, and more that I can't even remember. 

Of course now I am grown and have my own kids and they LOVE getting to pick out what to wear for Halloween. For my oldests 1st Halloween she was 5 months old and we dressed her up as a little Tinkerbell. That was 2010. By Halloween 2011 we had both my girls. My oldest, at 17 months was Pocahontas and my other daughter, who was 7 months, was a tootsie roll.

Then came Halloween 2012. I was super pregnant, it was just 8 days before I gave birth to baby #3 and my first son. My girls were tigers that year. I do know it was a chilly and yucky day. The next year 2013 I had 3 crazy kiddos to dress up. my oldest was Minnie Mouse, my other daughter was Spongebob, and my son was a Bengals football player. It was another cold yucky year.

Next came 2014. I again was pregnant. Third pretty cold and yucky year in a row. Just went to the mall to trick or treat which has become part of our yearly tradition. I again can't remember what everyone was. I do remember my son was a race car driver and I think my one daughter was a princess . My oldest was a girly Mickey Mouse. 

2015 was the first year I had all 4 of my kiddos for Halloween. This was also the first year we started our now tradition of going to one town who does Halloween a day early and then our town for Halloween. My older son was Thomas the train. My oldest daughter was Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. My other daughter was Else from Frozen.

2016. Can't believe it's almost been a year ago already. My oldest was Simba from the Lion King. She loves the big cats. My other daughter was yet again Else from Frozen. My older son was Batman and my youngest was a monkey. 

For this year everyone has made their decisions and costumes are bought. my oldest, who is now 7 is going to be Rainbow Dash. My other daughter, who is 6, has a new obsession of Harry Potter and has decided to be Hermione. She even plans on having a Harry potter birthday, which as a huge Harry Potter fan makes me happy. My older son, who will be 5 a week after Halloween, is going to be Jake from Jake and the Neverland Pirates. My youngest who is 2, chose to be one of his favorite characters, Mickey Mouse. We plan to keep our traditions of the 30 going to the other town we always go to and then on Halloween going to the mall and then around the town. 

Do you have any Halloween traditions? Do you have any Halloweens or costumes you remember from your childhood? What are your kids dressing up as this year? Please leave comments below. 

Juice Plus+

Me and my family got the privilege of getting to try Juice Plus+. I know a lot of people don't like to take vitamin or different capsules because you really don't know what is in them and what they can really do to your body. That is where Juice Plus+ comes in. This company is a whole food based nutrition and helps bridge the gap between what you should eat and what you end up eating every day. The capsules made by Juice Plus+ are made from real fruits and vegetables. In order to ensure you are getting the best, all Juice plus+ products are NSF certified.

There are different products you will have to check out. The main product is the capsules, but there are also nutrition bars, drink mixes, and chewables for both adults and kids. The taste of the products really is great. As with all nutrition products, you aren't going to notice a change immediately. Just as bad health takes time, so does getting back into good health.

If you have more questions, want more information, or want to check out the products you can visit the website. https://www.juiceplus.com/us/en

Large family shopping

So how many people here have a large family? If you are reading this, comment below how many kids you have. If you have read previous posts you should know we have 4 crazy kids. Now 4 growing kids can sure eat a LOT of food. We have tried so many shopping options. We have shopped at Aldi's and just gone cheapest so we could get more. We shop Walmart and Kroger including Walmart.com where we can shop ahead and pick up in store. We haven't used that option at Kroger yet, but love that it is there for the winter when I might not have to ability or want to drag kids into the store. Walmart also has  FREE 2-Day Shipping. We get most of our household products from walmart including their brand diapers and wipes.



They also have a 4 pack of toilet paper for 68 cents!!! That is nice as we go thru a LOT of toilet paper.

As for our major shopping, we have learned it's best to buy in bulk. Our favorite option is Sams Club. They have amazing prices and items we love as a family. We have it down for the most part now where we get the same bulk items every month and can go in get the typical items and get out. One of our favorite items from there is a fall and winter seasonal items. It is a homemade giant potpie. It has vegetables and giant pieces of chicken and tastes amazing!! When we were drinking juice, or when we have a party Sam's is our go to place. We have kids who love hot dogs (doesn't almost everyone?), great prices on bulk hot dogs.


Right now you can Give fall a warm welcome. Refresh your space with premium leather seating, dining sets and more décor. Shop Home Refresh. Free Shipping most items. You can even Shop Toys and Games at Sam's Club! They have books, clothes, toys, gift cards and so much more! If you are planning on hosting the holidays get Great Savings on Plates and Party Essentials.

We try to load up on everything we can from Sam's including meats. A pack of meat from there can last a few meals here or help with a party. All of our essentials and what we don't get for food usually comes from Kroger. I love using them for fuel points. During the holidays I love buying gift cards from there and getting 4x fuel points on gift cards. My favorite thing to do is buy gift cards to places I know I am going to be shopping at, or sometimes even buying gift cards as gifts. That way we get the fuel points and then have the money to spend.

Where do you shop at and what tips or tricks do you have?

Traveling for the holidays?

How many of you travel for the holidays? I know some do it for fun or vacations and many people travel to see family for the holidays. As a child we traveled some and now that my kids are getting a little older I would love to travel in the near future. There are so many options. That can be quite difficult having so many options.

That is where Booking.com comes in. Booking.com guarantees the best prices for any type of property. From apartments, boats and castles to treehouses, villas and yurts, the type of accommodation listed on Booking.com today is more diverse than ever. Truly international, Booking.com is available in more than 42 languages, and offers over 1,000,000 properties in 224 countries. Booking.com never has booking fees and offers free cancellations on most rooms. Booking.com operates its own in-house customer service team, which is available 24/7 to assist guests in their native languages and ensure an exceptional customer experience.

I LOVE using Booking.com. One of my favorite features is  Book now and pay later. This really helps when you find a hotel that you want, but don't want to pay up front.


Choose from popular destinations such as Nashville! , New York! ,  San Francisco! ,  Las Vegas!  and  Orlando! .



If you don't like booking.com there are other options, or you can also wing it.
Cheapoair.com can offer Millions of Cheap Flights on 450+ airlines! Save Up to $50, Use promo code AIR50. Book Now and save Time and Money!

If you need a hotel check to see if there is a La Quinta near by. With over 600 locations around the country from New York to San Diego and everywhere in between there likely is. Book Early and Save up to 25%.


Need to book your whole vacation together? You can also check out OneTravel.


 What are your travel plans, if any, for this holiday season?

September wrap-up and looking ahead to October

September was a pretty uneventful month. Didn't see too much happening. We had some feeding therapy visits for Silas and he had an ear infection. He had a neurology and neurosurgery appointment on the 28. Everyone else stayed healthy and didn't have any doctor appointments. As far as activities go, we had a relatively slow month. At the beginning of the month we made a trip to the Ohio Renaissance Fair. That was very enjoyable and you can check out my blog post from that here. I also got to go to my first concert in a while, Ryan Upchurch.

September was also Chiari Awareness month. If you don't know what Chiari is you can check out this post.  Also on September 30 we celebrated our Son Oscar's 4th birthday in heaven. That is always a hard time for us. We celebrate him with a birthday cake and balloon release every year.

October holds a lot for us. On the 5th we are going to the Cincinnati Zoo for a fall field trip for the girls school, OHVA. On the 6th we will be attending a preview of the Wicked Woods exhibit at Indianapolis Children's Museum. Kaya has her rheumatology/pt appointment on the 10. We should be getting her some orthotics ordered for her flat feet at that appointment. On the 16 Silas follows up with the CP clinic and then he sees pt on the 17. Me and my hubby will celebrate 8 years of marriage on the 19!! Those 8 years went by really fast. That weekend after is the annual Minges Weber festival. This is a local fair with games, rides, and lots of shopping and food. Lookout for a post later this month. Of course with the end of the month comes Halloween. Bella wants to be Rainbow Dash, Kaya wants to be Hermoine from Harry Potter, Louie wants to be Superman or Spiderman and Silas wants to be a fireman. Lookout for a post on Halloween come November.

Thanks for reading and I will keep everyone updated.