by jcastles | Jul 3, 2013 | Family, Uncategorized
Well it’s nothing fancy but I wanted to put my chart out there. Because of Jayson’s age and he should be poo’ing daily I’ve made his chart a little bigger than you’d use to start someone out with. I also put a picture of his prizes on the last square. I decided that he still needed to check off that square to get his prize so he needs to poo in the potty a total of 6 times. I know the poo picture is gross but he’s very literal when it comes to things and I needed a good poop pic w/out actually taking a pic of real poop. So that’s what I got.
If you’d like this potty chart shoot me an email @ messijessimail@gmail.com. You will need Photoshop or another kind of software editing program to edit the name and pictures.
The Poo Poo Potty Chart
by jcastles | Jul 1, 2013 | Family, Uncategorized
Well as you know (if you’ve been following me, lol) my littlest kiddo has High Functioning Autism. He attended school in Texas and missed 3 weeks before he started here (it took Washington a bit to figure things out I guess). Once he was in school I immediately saw him decline. The schools here are MUCH different than back home in Texas. They don’t separate out the different types of special needs here like they do at home. So we immediately saw outbursts that were not normal for him. We immediately tried to stop them at home and we’ve overcome most of them at this time. Now that school is out for summer and things are a bit more relaxed and in order around the house he’s starting to be more like himself. Jayson will attend summer school in 1 weeks so I’m kind of looking forward to getting him back into routine. And I’m actually glad. Even though I enjoy doing nothing and hanging around on the couch half the day I enjoy the busy-ness of life and look forward to getting back into a routine as well.
We’ve had some firsts for him since we’ve been here too. 1) He started getting out of his bed on his own in the mornings. He use to wake up and call us into his room like he’s done forever. I think sharing a room with his brother in temp housing helped change that. So the best thing about that is we get to sleep in cause he’ll play or watch tv and let us sleep in a bit! And I absolutely LOVE how he comes into our room and tells us Good Morning…absolute cutest thing! 2) Now that i’ve been able to update his potty chart to a poo poo chart he’s poo’d in the potty a total of 7 times now! He’s already gotten 1 reward (after 6 times) and he’s only 5 away from the next one. I’m telling you…I’d give him the moon if it’d work! 3) Jayson’s never really liked ice-cream. Well about a month or so before we left Texas I was able to get him to eat frozen yogurt from TCBY. Other than that treat he doesn’t really like anything else. No other ice-cream, candy, cake, etc. Well 2 weekends ago I made pudding pops and he finally ate a popsicle! It was vanilla but hey, he ate it!! He’s requested banana so that’s next on the agenda.
I hope for many more firsts…..I’m enjoying everyone of them. I know for many these firsts come way earlier than 4 yrs old but we’re learning to enjoy these firsts as they come..
by jcastles | Jun 25, 2013 | Family, Moving, Uncategorized
So we’ve been here 2 months now. It’s been sunny more than grey and rainy. I know we came close to summer but I was looking forward to cooler weather. It’s mostly been in the mid 70’s since we’ve been here. Which is all fine and dandy if you have a/c!! The humidity inside is really killing us! We finally put our window unit in the upstairs living room and moved the roll around to the kitchen now (the stove really heats the place up!). The kids seem to be fine in their rooms with just the windows open and a fan going but man is it stuffy in there. Our room is really shaded by trees so it’s not so bad. Of course we’d sleep better if it was cooler but that’s a whole ordeal of making a window unit fit in crank windows….not easy!!
So our first weekend that was kinda slow for us our kids got to play outside all of Saturday. They had so much fun. I’m trying to let them play outside more but I will admit the lack of cleanliness is driving me just a tad crazy. But I want my kids to play and get dirty like I did when I was a kid….so I’m trying to embrace it.
Here are some pictures of my kids having some true outside fun. Sprinklers, bicycles, popsicles, and a slug!!
Of course my 2 aren’t looking at me!
Gross slug!
Homemade pudding pops….oh the love I felt! And Jayson’s 1st popsicle!
Riding his tricycle! As soon as his training wheels get replaced we’re going to start riding that!
by jcastles | Jun 4, 2013 | Family, Moving, Uncategorized
We are finally in our new house (remember we rent…so it’s not like a congrats is in order)!!! The hubbs has been super busy putting furniture together for me. I love it all!! And once all the empty boxes are out of the rooms I’ll post a pic.
We did have a few mishaps with assembling the furniture though. Overall it’s all fixable and parts are on the way (free too!). It’s really crazy how hard this move was for us. I mean after all we didn’t have to move anything so why on earth should it be so hard!?!?! Well it’s because of me! We all got new, good, real wood beds (something we haven’t had in years!!). Then I gave my living room tables to Derryk (stepson) that stayed back in Texas (on his own!!) so of course I needed new! I am finally rid of all but 1 furniture item I received from my in-laws…a lamp. But dangit I like that lamp and it’s the only one that hasn’t broke so i’ll hang onto it.
Well that’s it for now! I’m just glad to be at home with OUR stuff!!.
by jcastles | May 24, 2013 | Family, Moving, Uncategorized
Well it’s been a month since we moved our entire lives across the United States. Overall we like it! Especially the weather. We still wish we had AC but whatever!
One week from today (May 31st) we move into our home we hope to call home for a few years. We rented our house in Texas so of course we wanted to start off that way here. We do hope to eventually buy.
The new house has 2 living rooms and 2 dining rooms….something we haven’t had in a few years. I’m definitely looking forward to making the 4th bedroom into my craft/guest room. At first I wanted just a guest room but seriously how many of our family/friends are actually going to come to Washington…probably not many. So I think I’m going to get a futon and go that route. The hubbs is really looking forward to having his own man cave too! So I guess technically I’m getting a woman cave….well maybe woman cave castle, lol!!! Cause you know I decorate all the other rooms too, lol!!!
We’ve also got to buy all new bedroom sets for all of us and decorate it with ideas from Just DIY Decor. We sold everyone’s back in Texas knowing we’d be able to get new here (a little perk :D). We’ve already picked out what we want just gotta get that first paycheck from Amazon to go get it!
I’m uber happy about being able to use my own washer and dryer!! All the rent houses (but this one) have them in it already. I’ve had mine for a year and just paid them off the week we moved here. So yah, i’m a little excited about that!
So a little update on us and not just stuff. The hubbs is liking his job really well. Kennyth is getting harassed by a little girl at school. She sprays glitter perfume on him and he’s been really upset about it. I let it go but he got in the car the other day and WOW was that stuff strong! So I asked him if he wanted me to talk to his teacher. He said yes and she told me she’d handle it, phew! But I told him if by Tuesday of next week she’s still doing it to let me know and I’ll park the car and take that crap from that little girl, lol!! But seriously I will have no problem going to that level and I might not be so nice about it. Jayson is loving all day school. I’ve had a few issues with pottying at the school but I sent an email off and I hope to get that resolved very soon. I am doing pretty good….just ready to have our stuff (oops, I said this is about us not stuff). I thought I’d be able to at least catch a nap at least once since Jayson started school but that has yet to happen. With us getting the house I’ve had to make calls and run errands and i’m just ready to relax. I suppose it’ll happen about the time school lets out (June 19th) and I won’t be able to nap.
Well that’s it for now…so far a month has been good. We’ve celebrated a birthday (Kennyth’s) and a wedding anniversary (duh-ours!) up here…soon another birthday (the hubbs)!!
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by jcastles | May 7, 2013 | Family, Moving, Uncategorized
So this past weekend was a fantastic HOT weekend. Mid 80’s and no AC made for some grumpy people again. But we were also driving around in the car with AC (yay!) looking at houses. We also took a break and went on a tour of Seattle.
We’ve been looking at rent houses and such….they want so much money upfront it’s ridiculous!! But they also come with all appliances, which is totally weird for us. And kinda sucks since we just paid off our brand new washer and dryer and have a brand new fridge! We’d save them but they’ll just rot in storage and because every rent house has them (pretty much required here in Washington) it’s not like we’ll need them anytime soon.
So I’m freaking out about where we’re going to live because the extension was NOT approved to the end of the month. So we have to be out on the 20th…and the hubbs doesn’t get paid from his first check until after that date. See….reason i’m silently freaking out!!
We found 1 house that we really really like but it’s so tiny that it’ll have a hard time fitting beds in the bedrooms. And my 9yr old accidentally broke a spindel on the stair case in this house….and they left the hubbs a real shitty message yesterday so now we’re kinda like do we go forward or pass cause is this how they’ll be if something breaks in the house. We know it was an accident, the agent saw it happen and knows it was an accident, and my kiddo was so upset about it you could see it was an accident. We’re still going to pay for it…but it’s not like he was going crazy!
We did like another house but the owner is the one that cares for the property and he’s totally weird. He kept giving us directions instead of an address to put in our gps….he’s just weird. So we’re like….do we proceed with him or will he just be weird the entire time. I mean you get vibes from people and the vibe wasn’t good.
So yah, we’re still looking. But there just aren’t that many houses available.
So after being in the car all day Saturday and Sunday we decided to go to a Food Truck Fest in downtown Seattle. Well……we get there and found it was closed that day. UGH! Seriously!! We wound up going into a McDonalds and sitting by some strung out druggies. After that we decided to go on a tour of Seattle. We heard the best way to do it is with Ride the Ducks of Seattle. It’s a 90 minute land and water tour. Our captain was fantastic and we participated in all the craziness that the Cross Chartering Yacht Transport had to offer and we were on the best boat EVER!!! We had people from all over the world and they just didn’t get the humor in it and were quiet most of the time. But we had fun and that’s what matters. So much fun that we actually didn’t take but these 2 pics before the tour! Guess we’ll have to go again to get some pics!
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by jcastles | Apr 30, 2013 | Family, Moving, Uncategorized
So I’ve been cooking for many many years. I’ve accumulated so many things that aren’t necessarily necessary but when you’ve used them for YEARS you can’t imagine life with out them. Well that’s where I’m at right this very minute!! Along with many other things you don’t think about needing until you do.
As you know I recently moved to Washington state for my husbands job (Amazon!!). We are currently staying in corporate housing which is really a furnished apartment. Sounds cool but yah…it’s just a place to live until you find your house in oh about 30-40 days so it just has the necessary things you’ll need to survive…well basically.
So let’s start with the kitchen. I have 1 of each of these- serving spoon, slotted spoon, ladle, & a spatula. Seems fine unless you know how many of those I have and use on a day to day basis. I have at least 3-4 of each of those!! So I’m washing dishes at least 2 times a day. Which isn’t a big deal except our hot water literally trickles out of the faucet! And I can’t bring myself to run the dishwasher with 3 cups and serving spoons in it. We do have 8 place settings of dishes and silverware…but yet again we go through so many forks in a day it’s ridiculous! I miss the prep bowls too…I use them for sauces etc not really to prep what i’m cooking but it’s the little things you don’t think about. Muffin tins….yah, those too. Measuring spoons….had to pick a set of those up as well…ugh!
The bathrooms….oh the bathrooms! Forget my luxurious soft plush microfiber bath mats….we have towels for rugs right now. The ONLY nice thing about them is if the little kiddo pee’s on them it’s easy to toss in the wash (I’ve had to do that a few times already!). The other thing is storage for the bathroom. The counter around the sink is literally 2 inches bigger than the sink! Totally weird for us. But it’s not long term and I hit the Dollar Tree for some storage solutions and voila we’ll be ok! Because of the hot water trickle issue it takes about 15 minutes to fill up the bath tub for the little kiddo….it’s annoying!
The laundry room. Well I’m definitely not use to older machines anymore, lol! They’re fine but when you open the dryer lint literally flys out at you! The lint trap sucks big time. And because of the hot water trickling issue it’s nearly impossible to wash anything on hot. And since everything is packed I didn’t think about laundry baskets or hampers. So off to Big Lots we went, problem solved…now i’ll have double, lol!
Can you tell I’m really irritated about the hot water trickle?!! You can’t do more than 1 water related thing at the same time in this apartment so that’s really really irritating! But I just gotta keep thinking…..1 month….1 month!!
The only other thing that’s irritating is the no a/c but I covered that in another post….so I guess what I’m saying is I won’t bore you there..
by jcastles | Apr 29, 2013 | Family, Moving, Uncategorized
We’ve been here a week and 2 days now and I’m realizing a few things I miss. #1- Air conditioning!! #2- Mrs. Baird’s bread! #3- Big Walmart’s
I know some of you are like it’s in the 50’s why on earth do you need A/C?!! Well when you get moving around in an apartment it gets hot and muggy quick! I’ve opened the windows/doors and since the wind doesn’t really blow into our apartment it takes forever to cool off! The heat pretty much runs once a day in the house….cause it heats it up for an entire day! Luckily we’re only here for a month and I hope I can deal with it that long….it’s only getting warmer outside so I dunno.
Oh the bread! The soft Mrs. Baird’s bread back home…oh how I miss the! Being near Fort Worth where the softest bread around was made and delivered daily to your local supermarkets is something you don’t think about missing.
Big Walmarts are not really around here. We saw 2 super Walmart’s this past week when we were out exploring but they’re so far away it’s crazy….like hours!! We do have a Neighborhood Walmart about a mile from the house and they have a little more stuff than a Neighborhood Walmart in Texas. Fred Meyer (Kroger) is big here as well as Safeway….so we’ll see how they all compare eventually.
For the most part things are as normal as normal gets for us. I’m not buying many spices because all mine are in storage and I don’t want to buy them only to have double in our house here in a month. So for dinners I’m having to make easy stuff that doesn’t require spices to add. It’s weird and surprisingly hard to come up with dinner ideas (so if you have any ideas PLEASE let me know!)!
A lot of people keep asking about my allergies. In Texas I suffer from allergies year round. I don’t expect that to be the case here. I’m having a few issues but nothing like what I’m use to. So i’m very grateful for that! I’ve been out in flower fields, forests, the city, etc and even though i’m on my medicine I’m not really having many issues. What a nice change that is!!
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by jcastles | Apr 27, 2013 | Family, Moving, Uncategorized
After we got the kiddo from school we decided to drive into the mountains to see the snow. It was only an hour drive and man was it worth it! I can not wait until winter….The Castles will be learning to ski that’s for sure! The Snoqualmie Falls were very pretty too!
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by jcastles | Apr 25, 2013 | Family, Moving, Uncategorized
Well Jayson’s school needed all kinds of information and can’t start until we have a meeting….UGH! He’s driving us crazy wanting to go to school. I’ve given them everything they’ve asked for so I really hope they get this done asap.
Kennyth on the other hand was easy peasy! The schools are so laid back that it seems totally wrong! There is no paper to put in your window to pick up your kiddo…they just find you and get in the car! Like it was when I was little. They have an awesome schedule and they act like it’s a really long day for the kids…..they get out at 2:30…that’s the extended time so they can get out at 12:10 on Wednesday’s!! Totally bizarre!
When I was getting paperwork to register Jayson I was trying to go in the wrong door (cause the hubbs said it was the front–no, it wasn’t)…well there was a custodian outside and asked me if I needed inside!!! I was like um, no I just need to find the front of the school. So it’s kinda nice that it’s that laid back but yet WTH?!! Kinda scary!! Luckily that’s NOT the school he’ll go to it was just where the paperwork was, but still.
Kennyth’s first day of school was pretty good. As I left him in his classroom this morning I saw the fear and tears in his eyes and wondered if we’d made a mistake by moving here. I’m so glad that when we picked him up he was in good spirits and seemed totally normal. And since it’s a Wednesday he had a short day so it was a quick meet and go kind of day. Thursday they have their test that’s equivalent to the STAAR’s testing in Texas. He’s been preparing in Texas so we’re all pretty confident that he’ll do just fine.
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