Gummy Vs Real Food Challenge

Bryce has a sensory processing disorder. It affects his eating and his sense of touch. He also has what is referred to as food aversion. He has been in eating therapy on and off for about 2 years now. We try really hard to find ways that he will want to try and eat new things or eat more of things that he sometimes will eat but usually won't. He loves to watch a channel on YouTube called Kid City and sometimes they do fun things. One of the things they did was a gummy vs real food challenge. Bryce loved it and wanted to do it. PERFECT! 

We have done it several times now. Here is how we do it. We find and buy different gummy foods and then also buy the real food version. I cut the real food into bite size pieces and the gummys if needed. Then we use a dice and take turns rolling. We play several rounds. If you roll an odd number you eat a gummy, if you roll an even number you eat the real thing. We can get him to eat a lot of food that way-we have done peaches, apples, pickles, pizza, hot dogs, soft pretzels, and lots of other fruit. Usually he will eat the fruit pretty well. When we did the pizza he took a small bite but that was better than nothing. 

I was super excited when I found some gummy hamburgers and fries. Bryce has never eaten hamburger in his life. Not on tacos or anything not even a small piece. He has never even had a hamburger from somewhere like McDonald's and he is almost 6 years old. 

We took our dice and our gummys and headed to IN and OUT Burger. I was hopeful because he had really been more willing in trying things using the gummy vs real food challenge. He ate the fries no problem, but unfortunately not the hamburger. He would take a very small bite of the bun. But he got super upset and just couldn't do the actual hamburger. He did lick it and take a microscopic nibble but that was it. We didn't push it. I guess at least he held it in his hands and hopefully in the future he will actually eat it. 

 Oh yeah they was even a cola gummy but there was no way he was trying the Coke, but that's okay I'm fine if he never likes soda-LOL. 

#BryceEE #SPD #foodaversion

In a Box

Lately it is not uncommon for me to find Bryce sitting in this box watching tv. It must be a sensory thing-he must like the feeling of being in a tight space. #BryceEE

Wardrobe Malfunction

I had an embarrassing moment. I joined a gym for the summer mainly so that I could take the kids to the pool there and so that I could go to pickel ball classes a couple of times a week. Some of the people I work with also would attend frequently. Well this particular morning during pickel ball class I happened to be paired up with one of my male coworkers and friends and while we were playing my bra came unzipped.-It was also a front zip one so it wasn't a good thing. I tried to get to the sideline and take care of it, but then the zipper actually broke it zipped part way though. I finished up the game hoping it would hold out. It did and then I quickly got out of there. It was pretty embarrassing.

Pickleball Lessons

The last few summers Bryce has done tennis lessons. This year we changed things up a little bit and did pickleball lessons instead. He loves playing pickleball at home and even has his very own paddle, so it was the perfect summer activity for him. He is actually getting pretty good at hitting the ball. He will probably be a pro by the time he is a teenager ;) He had fun, although by the time it was over for the season the heat was getting pretty unbearable, but at least the coaches usually handed out Popsicle's at the end. 

Favorite Fresh Salsa Recipe

This is our favorite fresh salsa recipe. If I make it we will easily finish off the entire batch in less than a week. Needless to say we go through a lot of tortilla chips at our house, because we love salsa so much. I probably buy at least 3 bags a week. Bryce won't eat salsa but tortilla chips are one of the few foods he will eat and one of the staples of his diet.

Here is the recipe. If you have some sort of chopper it works best to use that, but you can also you a blender and that works too.

SALSA

3 tomatoes

1 bunch cilantro (or to taste)

1 jalapeno cut in half and seeded (to your taste)

1/2 onion (white)

1 tsp. minced garlic

1 TBSP. lime juice

1 tsp. salt

Add all ingredients and chop or blend.

Enjoy with tortilla chips!

Arcadia Resort-New Favorite Swimming Spot

There is a new vacation resort in St. George called Arcadia. The best thing about it, is that they open the pool up to the public. They let you pay and swim for the day. The price isn't really too bad either $8 per person and if you have a large group it's only $5 each. It is Bryce's favorite place to go! He loves it. The reason it is so fun is because it has a lot of options for things to do and also because it isn't typically as crowded as the public pool. There is a huge lazy river, water slide, deep pool with a cool cave, kiddie pool with splash pad, and a hot tub.

We were able to visit several times during the summer, but by the end of summer they had closed it to the public. :( SAD DAY

Sleepless Nights Not So Much Anymore

A lot of times I have a hard time falling asleep and also staying asleep. I will frequently wake up in the night and stay awake for hours at a time and then I wake up grumpy and groggy. A friend gave me this "Sleep" aromatherapy lotion from bath and body works. It has black chamomile and lavender in it and it has been a game changer for me. It really helps me so much. I can notice myself start to get sleepy not long after I put it on and I have been sleeping better than I have in years. Let's hope if keeps working. 

Summer Naps

There is nothing I like more than taking a good nap in the summer time. In fact I routinely schedule it in. We usually get up and going pretty early-we work and we play even harder. Then that makes it so a lot of times we can all enjoy a nice afternoon nap. 

Now as much as I love naps-what I really hate is when they don't work out. You know those days you lay down and your sister calls, then the UPS guy rings the doorbell, etc., etc. 

Here's to a summer filled with more successful than unsuccesful naps.

Maybe I should hang up one of those baby is napping signs-HAHA

Cousins + Summer = LOTS OF FUN

We really are lucky to have cousins that live so close. For the most part when we get together the kids are all able to get along and have fun despite the age differences. 

#cousinsmakethebestfriends

4th of July Celebration

We love celebrating Holidays. We also love inviting people over and hosting events or get togethers. What better reason to throw a party than to celebrate the 4th of July. 

We invited both my sisters who live in town and their families, my good friend Lisa, and our family friends for years Amy and Fallyn and their families. 

Of course we needed fireworks. All of the kids were happy to hit up a few firework stands with me. I did pretty good staying within the budget I had set for myself. Bryce was able to convince Tanner to buy him a couple extra items ;)

 We hung up a few decorations. 

 And rented an inflatable water slide. It was a few minutes late getting to our house so the kids waited as patiently as they could while it got set up. 

 Finally it was up and they were ready to go.

It was the perfect slide because the youngest up to adults to could do it, and most people tried it at least a few times. The kids didn't stop. They were on it constantly all day long!!

 They would take little breaks now and then to get warmed up or have something to eat and then they were back at it. Literally they played on it non stop for almost 4 hours. 

Later in the afternoon we all took a little break and some of us tried to catch a nap while we waited for it to get dark so we could do fireworks.

Between what we had purchased and everyone else brought we had a pretty legit firework show. We had no casualties, although Chloe came close to taking off her hear-not really but she could have-at least that's what the picture looked like. 

We had a great day. The kids and adults all enjoyed it and we are already looking forward to next year. Happy Independence Day! #America

June Book Recap

Here is what I read in June

Outlander and The Chemist were both 3/5 stars

Outlander-I'm surprised I even finished it. I just could not get into it. The Chemist was okay I think it was just a little too unrealistic and over the top for me to really like.

I gave 5/5 stars to Shouting at the Rain and Where'd you go Bernadette. 

Can I just say I love all of Lyndy Mullaly Hunt's books that I have read so far and Bernadette kept me smiling.