It has been a while...

     Although the new car is working out great, other things have been less than fantastic. I had insurance issues to deal with for the better part of the last 6 months. Turns out my son getting an official diagnosis has hurt him more than helped. I think I've finally got it all taken care of though, so that is a big relief.
     Not all of the busy was bad. Got to go on a family vacation in Branson last month and I picked up a cool sign for my chicken coop. Took my oldest to Dixie Stampede for his first time. Although technically he did go "in utero." Went fishing, swam in Table Rock Lake, but the best is spending a whole week with the family.
     Gardening is going ok. We had a couple weeks in a row where the temperatures were over 100, so they didn't fare so well while I was on vacation. I've got some good cucumbers though.
      I am glad the first half of August is over though. August 8th was 10 years since my miscarriage and August 14th was 15 years since ALS stole my grandma from this Earth.
     The kids went back to school Wednesday and my oldest is actually really happy in school. They have Monday off for the eclipse, so we're going to enjoy the day as a family.
     I guess that is all for now. I'll hopefully get some corn and green beans canned this weekend. Between that and the eclipse I'm crossing my fingers that I'll have more to post early next week.
   

December went to hell in a hand basket

     December 4th we hear our car/brakes making a squeaking sound, so we call the next morning and get it in to get checked out. The rotors aren't gripping properly or some such nonsense and the vibrating is causing the sound. So nearly $250 and one day later we picked up the car.
     December 8th. The garage door is broken, won't close and my husband has to work until after Lowes is closed. I was able to make it close, but I knew as soon as it was opened again the problem would return. He was able to leave work long enough to get supplies and then fixed it after work. it was only meant to be a temporary fix until we could get a new door, but then the next day happened.
     December 9th. I was headed to the Hot Chocolate 15K/5K race expo to pick up my race packet. I went to make a stop and wait until it was my turn to make a right turn. Unfortunately my car had other ideas. I hadn't driven since the brakes were worked on and it didn't stop the same. That led to an accident and the passenger of the other car instantly got out and start yelling at me like I had done it on purpose. My 3 year old was in the car with me, but with the low speed everybody was fine. My front end crumpled like a wet sack, so I instantly knew it wasn't driveable. I called my husband at work to pick us up. Police were called, information exchanged, and then we sat and waited for the tow truck. After the police and other car left, I pretty much lost it. Lots of crying, pretty much for an entire hour. I've been in 6 accidents, but this was the first one where my insurance was listing me as "at fault." As soon as the Civic was dropped off, we went and got the rental and my hubby drove me to pick up my packet.
     Fast forward a week and I find out my 6 year old car has almost $6000 in damage and they are writing it off as a total loss. When we got the car it had 16 miles on it and it had just overy 91,000 on it at the time of the accident. Fresh tank of gas and relatively new tires.
     We start looking at options for a second car. The FIL has a free car, but it's in Michigan and not something we could get to for at least a month. So I start searching for used cars. I found one that was everything we needed and for a really great price.
     After nearly two weeks, a ton of phone calls, and some drama we got our Pilot. Thanks to the settlement from the Civic, we were able to put $3000 down and reduce our payments.
     Holidays were great though and I got to see my bestie when she was in town from New York. I hadn't seen her in two years. I really need to get up there and visit her, it's just not feasible right now.
     I'm so glad 2016 is over, but I'm also worried about what will happen in the future.

EEG

     My youngest finally got his EEG on November 18th. He had to fall asleep which I was worried about, but daddy held him and he was asleep in just a few minutes. He wasn't particularly happy when we had to wake him up for the last part of the test.
     Fast forward to November 28th and we got the results. Everything was noreal and no sign of seizure activity. It was such a relief. One less hurdle to get our little man over.
     We will be getting him into all of the recommended therapies starting early next year. Our insurance is switching over, so there is no point in going through all the start up and paperwork just to have to change it over in 2 months.
     He has continued to eat better. He had started eating pears and pistachios. Still trying to get him to eat more forms of protein and vegetables, but he is making improvements.
     Sleep is a little iffy. More often than not, he wakes up in the middle of the night and crawls into our bed. Goes right back to sleep, but just enough to wake us up. He likes to take up my side of the bed, so I wake up in pain a lot. Hopefully we can turn it around but for now I'm so exhausted all the time that I don't feel like handling it.
     Well that's all the news for now, got a busy day ahead of prepping salad in a jar. Great way to have a healthy lunch ready to grab, but they do take some work. But that's a post for another day!

Last canning of the season

     To finish off the last of the jalapeños that my parents grew I made some pepper jelly. I made two different batches. One was all green bell peppers and jalapeños and the second had red bell peppers and a jalapeño or two that had turned red.
     The first batch was runny so I ended up having to fix it, but the second batch turned out great.  

      This was the first batch that I fixed up. It is perfect now!

     This was the second batch that turned out just right the first time!

     I've never actually had pepper jelly so I had my family try it and they said it tastes good/just ad it should. I was glad to hear it turned out right for a first try. 

     The recipe was in the booklet that came with my FreshTech jam&jelly maker. It is also online at:  http://www.freshpreserving.com/pepper-jelly-%7C-pepper-jelly-recipe---ball-fresh-preserving-br1308.html

    I'll have a new post soon about our trip to the pumpkin patch. We're carving tomorrow, so it'll probably be Thursday or Friday.

Officially diagnosed

     My youngest finally got in for his tests back at the end of September to see if/where he is on the spectrum. He was diagnosed with a moderate level of autism, but with a prognosis that improvement is likely with therapy.

     I expected to be emotional after the appointment. I just didn't know if it would be hopeful or sorrow. It wasn't a surprise that he is, in fact, on the spectrum. My biggest fear was that he'd always be nonverbal and I'd never get to hear him say "Mommy I love you!" This appointment gave our family both a plan and hope.

     Right now the plan is to get an EEG, a hearing test, a vision test, and to start dental visits. The dentist isn't part of his therapy it's just time. They recommended a genetic test as well. We are going to see about getting him into speech therapy and possibly an eating group to improve the range of foods he will eat. 

     He's been thriving at school. Sleeping better. Not necessarily eating better, but eating more. He does seem willing to try more new foods. Recently he ate ground beef, an apple with the peel on, and a pear. He actually points at something when he wants it, where he used to excitedly wave his arms in the items direction. He also seems to be making more purposeful sounds as opposed to just noise. Like he is trying to say actual words instead of just monotone sounds. He has even started giving hugs and kisses!

     For now we just get him all the help he needs and hopefully before long I'll finally get to hear his voice. Hopefully he'll finally be able to get out of his own head and tell us what he's feeling, what's he's thinking, what makes him happy, what makes him sad. 

     Hope. It's what we needed, and it's what we have. Even if it's all we have for now. We will get through this together.

CordaRoy's corduroy beanbag chair-full sleeper

     My husband recently started the program for his master's degree, and he set his computer up on a low table in our bedroom. He can close the door and get work done, but sitting on the floor was uncomfortable to say the least. He knew he was going to have to go the beanbag route because a chair would be too high. We checked out tons of brands over several weeks when I came across the one we ultimately chose.
     I read lots of reviews talking about how the company really stands by its product and if the beanbag isn't fluffy to your standards they send more fluff, free of charge. So few companies do this, so I knew we had a winner.
     There are so many great positives to this chair. The best being the inside is actually a full size sleeper. The whole thing is machine washable  (though I'm not sure how you'd fit the inside inside a standard washing machine.) There are a few different sizes and fabrics for the cover. Lots of colors and patterns to choose from. There is something for everybody.

      Comes packed in a surprisingly compact box considering how big this thing gets. Around 20"x20" and fluffs up to over 40" wide.

     Some details about what is covered under warranty should an issue arise. We chose the corduroy to help prevent certain issues. We have a cat who scratches everything but his scratching posts.

      This was before it reached full fluffiness, but it is obviously still pretty large.

     This was the cat I mentioned earlier. So far no scratching *fingers crossed*

     Couldn't get the whole measurement in the picture because it was just too big. 

     So far the beanbag chair is working pretty well. He can sit and be supported while doing stuff for school. All of the kids and animals love it, so I'd say it's a win/win! Definitely recommend this chair to anybody who is looking.

Compost tumbler and canning jars!

     I've had a certain compost tumbler on my amazon wish list for at least 6 months and the reviews were great, but the price was hoverify between $90-$100. I checked my list and it was on sale for $67 and some change. I hopped on that right away and I'm super excited. The instructions weren't great, but luckily it was pretty easy to figure out with the help of a YouTube video I searched for. It is the yimby brand and I've already put egg shells, coffee grounds, apple peels and cores, a paper egg carton, and a whole bunch of other stuff in it.

     In addition to the sale on the tumbler ball jars were also on sale (on amazon as well.) I got 12 half pint, 12 pints, and 12 quart for around $26. If I'd been thinking I would have used my gift card and gotten $5 off. 

     I bought some more Jonathan apples and turned the caramel apple jam I made before into a recipe for pie filling. It looks good and I'll get to see how it turned out later this fall.