Van's Natural Foods Waffles and Pancakes Coupon

Van's is a wheat free, organic and all-natural breakfast.  I usually serve this brand to my son because it's not loaded with chemicals and doesn't seem to make his ADD worse. Being the not-so-perfect parent I must admit that during the summer it's an all-out chemical fest with Toaster Strudel, cinnamon rolls, Fruit Roll Ups, and Eggo waffles. But during the school year breakfast has to be healthy and time is not always on our side so I choose Van's.  But Van's is slightly higher in price than Pillsbury and Eggo so a coupon is always welcome.

There's a coupon for Van's on Facebook. I don't know how long it will be available so hurry.
"Like" Van's Natural Foods on Facebook.
Click on Breakfast with Benefits on the left side and you should be able to print out coupon.
If you cannot print out coupon your secure browsing is probably enabled. Try this (copied off Van's wall):

To get the coupon, Like this page > go Account (upper right) > Account Setting > Security (upper right) > Secure Browsing > Edit > uncheck Box > Save Settings Log Out. Log in. Log Out again > Log in > Search Vans > Find Breakfast w/Benefits Link (left sidebar) > Get Coupon > Go back and Turn On Secure Browsing again - what a chore! (hope this helos, it worked in Firefox 3)


If this doesn't work email them at consumeroutreach@vansfoods.com and ask them for a coupon.
consumeroutreach@vansfoods.com  


Kroger has a sale this week until August 30th on Van's waffles for $1.99. With coupon it will be .99 cents.

A Bouquet of Sharpened Pencils

"Don't you just love New York in the fall? It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address."  ~ You've Got Mail

Last weekend of summer before school. I feel dread coming upon me. I'm trying to get mentally ready. My youngest son's homework is the bane of the school year. What should only take 1 hour can take up to 3 hours. Some days we start at 4 pm and by 7pm it's still not done. Plus, we've been told by psychologists to give him plenty of breaks in between. Ehh. You can imagine our stress level during the week when dinners have to made, organic and healthy lunches fixed, the daily required reading, other activities, and we got to get to bed at a decent hour.

Technically because of my son's vision problems he is supposed to have his homework reduced by 25%. We do have a valid medical reason for this accommodation. But last year his teacher sent homework on Fridays giving us the weekend to do his homework and eliminating the need for the reduction. This year if it's really bad I'm going to push the accommodation for less homework to be enforced. However, I am torn between forcing him to do all his homework and allowing 25% less. I'm not sure if "Less is More" in this case. If he doesn't do all the lessons will it hurt later on down the road when the lessons get more difficult? It's hard being a parent. There's always a fine line of pushing your kids too hard and babying them. What's the right decision? IDK. I'm praying for guidance and hoping that we have a great teacher again this year who is understanding and patient.

A funny side note: last year when my son's teacher asked him why he wasn't doing his work in class he told her it's because of my ADD and autism. I had to explain to him that DOES NOT excuse him from paying attention and doing his work in class even though I was laughing inside. I guess he overheard me talking to the optometrist about him doing less schoolwork and figured he could get away with this because I never told him he would have less homework.

While on the subject of school, I've been looking for the best bargains on school supplies. Target and Walmart have been disappointing in their sale prices this year. For many years I had a good stock of school supplies, but this past year there have been many requests from organizations for donations of school supplies. I gave most of my stock away. I think many non-profit organizations are having hard times due to the recession.

If you're willing to go shopping on a weekly basis, this is the time of year is when the office supply stores have the best deals. They usually have stuff for pennies. At Office Deport I bought 5 glue bottles and 5 rulers for 1 penny each. 5 is the max they allow. I also got 3-pack erasers for .50 and pack of pencils for .25. You just can't beat those deals. If you don't have kids, buy the penny items and donate them. Last year Starbucks had a basket to donate supplies. Or you can just drop them off at your local elementary school. I'm sure they would appreciate it.

Here's a review on the Ipoint pencil sharpener. This pencil sharpener runs about $12. I actually got it on clearance last year for $2.48, but I just opened the package while sorting thru the supply closet. This is a good buy. It sharpens pencils so sharp they feel like a needle at the tip.

Pencils sharpend with iPoint.

I also found some spiritually uplifting folders and notebooks at Walmart. I was surprised to see them. They are about $1 more expensive than the "regular" notebooks. I bought one anyway to show Walmart people do buy christian products.  Last week I saw these same items in my church bookstore.

Sorry Aslan, I Guess It Was Too Soon

After seeing my 10-year old son's not-so-wonderful results on his reading TAKS Test  I decided that this summer we would read "The Chronicles of Narnia" together. I thought it would be fun and we would experience the captivating and magical stories together.  Instead he found it to be a tedious task that he dreaded everyday. I can't blame him though reading is not pleasurable for him, but rather work.

In addition to his autism/Asperger diagnosis last May, in November he was also diagnosed with accommodative infacility (focusing), binocular vision disorder (teaming), and visual spatial disorientation (depth perception & distances).  In other words, he has difficulty in reading, focusing, comprehension, and seeing objects coming towards him. It sure does explain why he never saw the baseball coming straight at him and got knocked out.

When the doctor was explaining what was wrong with my son's eyes I was just thinking to myself "Oh Lord, just something else for him to overcome. Really!? Doesn't he already deal with enough?" I'm really disappointed that he has difficulty reading. It's a real downer because I love books and I know that he would love reading if he could really grasp the stories. But I'm told he is so busy trying to focus on the letters that comprehension does not come as quickly.  Well, you know how Asians tend to push their children through hard tasks? (Watch or read "The Joy Luck Club" and you will understand.) Being Asian, I thought I could gently push him to read everyday during the summer and it would train his eyes and a miracle would happen and all would be well.

Thus far we have read "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe" and "The Magician's Nephew." The later was difficult for him. I would ask him questions after every chapter and he could not answer some of the questions. So I would find which page the answer was on and tell him to read it again until he found the answer.  Okay, so I forgot that this was supposed to be enjoyable. Later as I was discussing this problem with a physical therapist she said the book is too hard for him because of his eye problems and I have to scale back. She suggested Magic Tree House books and some others. When she said this I knew in my heart that I did push my son too hard.  I have to remember that he is special needs.  I easily forget this because he's so dang smart in math and other areas and does stuff on the computer that I don't know how to do.

So I guess we have to say good bye to Aslan and go back home through the wardrobe and say "Hello" to the world of Judy Blume or Magic Tree House. I bought my son "Tales of 4th Grade Nothing" which I remember being a great book.

Side Note:  there have been some revisions in the Narnia series since I read the book 20-something years ago.  Just small changes like words here and there and changing the wolf's name Fenris Ulf to Maugrim.  But the biggest change is that "The Magician's Nephew" is now book #1.  When I read the series it was book #6. I guess someone realized establishing Narnia should be first and not next to the last book.

Vacation for Me and My Son

My 10-year old son is away until Friday attending vacation bible school at my brother's church. My brother is an amazing youth pastor of a church in Grapevine. Even though he and his wife are in charge of hundreds of kids and their activities for an entire week they still offered to take my son so he can attend with his cousins. I don't think I could be that generous. I think I would be too frantic and "raven" mad to even consider taking one more kid aboard. But that's why they're leaders at church and I'm not.

I am really grateful to my brother and sister-in-law for inviting my son. I already got some feedback that he's having a blast. I love that he's learning about Jesus and having a great time! The day before our son left he told my husband, "Tomorrow I'm going to begin to party!" So I guess he really meant it.  My partying was staying up until 4am reading "The Help" because I knew I didn't have to be awake for him the next day.

As much as I love my child and miss him I feel like I'm on a vacation too. I feel like this because I don't have to do eye and physical therapy every day this week. His therapy doesn't take a long time but we have to fit it in the day and there's attitudes and schedules to deal with. Another reason I feel like I'm getting a break is because my son usually hogs the computer playing a game called Gary's Mod. Normally we wouldn't let him play so long on the computer but he has found friends online. They talk while they play and do funny stuff. I think it's wonderful that my son is carrying conversations with other boys. I desperately want him to learn how to have deep meaningful conversations with other kids. One of the traits of autism/Asperger is not having good communication skills. Many autistic kids are able to have a good conversation, but it depends on the subject.  If it's something they like they can talk for a long time.  If it's a subject that doesn't interest them they usually don't respond and the conversation may be a very dry and short.  My son can have mediocre conversations with his classmates, but not what I would consider friendship bonding. He's able to talk to his online friends for hours because they are all obsessed with the same game. But I believe he's developing some skills and that's why he gets to be on the computer for hours.  Because he and my other son are on the computer during the day I wait until midnight to get on the computer, but today I didn't have to wait which makes me feel a sense of freedom.

While I have some free time I plan on straightening my storage room and my craft area this week.  But I have a feeling I may be spending a lot of time on the computer instead.

Spell Check Needs to be Updated

You know what drives me mad?

Even though autism is becoming more commonplace the stupid spellcheck in Microsoft Word does not have the word "Asperger" in its dictionary.  The diagnosis term was standardized in 1994 so they've had plenty of time to add it to the dictionary. I know I can manually add it to the dictionary so I don't get the red squiggly line, but I am waiting to see if Microsoft will actually add it to their dictionary.  Also, Tourette's is not in their dictionary.  I know spell check does not check for name spelling but these are both names and medical terminologies.

I know this is a personal rant and it only bothers me but I still had to post it.

From Autism Speaks site:
Today, it is estimated that one in every 110 children is diagnosed with autism, making it more common than childhood cancer, juvenile diabetes and pediatric AIDS combined. 

Autism is a general term used to describe a group of complex developmental brain disorders known as Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD). The other pervasive developmental disorders are PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder – Not Otherwise Specified), Asperger Syndrome, Rett Syndrome and Childhood Disintegrative Disorder. Many parents and professionals refer to this group as Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Let Your Suitcase Be Your Guide

I admit it. I am the reason why my family is late to any event, church, party or gathering. Even if I start the process of getting ready 4 hours ahead of the time I still cannot get ready within the alloted time frame.  I don’t know if it’s hereditary or adult attention deficit disorder (AADD). The problem is I get sidetracked and start doing other things such as refolding my t-shirts as I go through my closet or notice the bathroom sink is dirty and I start cleaning it. I just can't seem to stay focused. 

I really am not the kind of person who likes to lay blame on someone or something but my continual lateness is really rude and I hate being rude so I'm trying to find the fault somewhere else instead of me. 

As long  as I can remember my parents have always been late. Perhaps I picked up this bad habit from my parents and it's rooted into me. It’s become their trademark amongst friends and family. In the Filipino community everyone is late. Time has a different meaning. When we are invited to a Filipino party, “I ask is this American time or Filipino time?”  American time means the time stated is correct and you better be there on time. If it’s Filipino time, then the hostess has given an earlier time than the actual time of the party because she knows the invitees will be late and she really wants the party to start 30 minutes to an hour after the time. So even in the Filipino community where everyone is late, my parents are REALLY late which means they are 2-3 hours late. 

So my constant lateness could be in my DNA and I just can't help myself because I've inherited the "late" gene. 

But the source of my trouble could be Adult Attention Deficit Disorder.
My doctor did not diagnosis me… my husband did.  About a year ago our son was diagnosed with autism and ADHD.  So naturally we read articles to gain knowledge and to get advice. After reading articles on ADHD my husband said to me, “I think you have ADD.” 
Of course, I was in denial. I said, "No, I don't."
He said, “I left an article for you to read in the bathroom.”  
Curious I looked in the bathroom and it was an article on adult ADD. 
After reading the article I said to myself, “Okay,it looks like I have AADD. I have many of the symptoms described in the articles such as having many unfinished projects. I’m not going to a doctor to waste money and to get tested to be officially labeled. I refuse to go on drugs. I will just do the best I can.”  

It's true that admitting the problem is the first step. It made me realize that I do silly stuff while getting dressed. An example is looking for jewelry to match my outfit and instead of moving onto the next step I find myself organizing my jewelry armoire. But now that I am aware that this is contributing to my lateness I can check myself and force myself to go back to getting dressed. 

Another contributing factor to why I am late is that I never like the image that is reflected in the mirror. This leads to the dreaded I-have-nothing-to-wear dilemma and when-will-I really-stick-to-a-diet? question.  It is a vicious and ugly cycle.  Putting on clothes, sighing with disgust, trying a different outfit, hating my fat. During the whole time berating I'm myself for being overweight and I forget to look at the clock.

But just last week I had a huge revelation on a family trip to The Villages at Silverleaf Resorts in Tyler, Tx. We were scammed into one of those time-share meetings. We were told The Villages was a place similar to Great Wolf Lodge which is an amazing, plush hotel with an indoor water park and a sky-high rate to match its grandeur. All we had to do was attend the 2-hour meeting to be able to enjoy the place. Of course it ended up being a big scam because we were placed in a old motel and only allowed to swim at the water park after a 6-hour sales pitch. In order to stay on the grounds we had to sign up with the time share. But the kicker was that it wasn't even a hotel. It was a bunch of log cabins. Doh! Similar to the Great Wolf Lodge, my butt. There was nothing plush and relaxing about the place. The water park was also half the size of GWL's water park. We let our boys swim for a few hours and went out to eat. We didn't even stay another night in the motel. What a waste of time and money.

But, I digress. Back to my burning life-changing revelation. During our whole time there I was surprised I was always ready to go and we were not late. I realized there’s nothing like living out of a suitcase to make you realize how much stuff you really DON’T need.  It was simple living.  I had to wear the clothes and jewelry I brought. I didn’t waste time trying on 3-4 different outfits. And there was nothing to distract me like organizing my jewelry or cleaning the sink.

It was so clear to me:  I must learn to simplify my life as if I were living out of a suitcase. 

I don’t need a ton of clothing, shoes, nor jewelry.  I don’t need all the other things like special lotions, soaps, house décor, art supplies, etc.  I should just live a clean and simple life. If I had less stuff it would be easier to clean and there would be less decisions. I decided to donate 50% of my clothes and to stop shopping.

pic from Travelphant.com

But as human nature goes, the joy of this revelation is slipping away from me.  I am back at home. As I look around my house trying to decide what to donate I realize that there are pieces that hold memories and I can't relinquish them. Plus, I don’t have housekeeping like the hotels. While on a trip I'm not bothered to clean the sink because I know a maid will do it. But at home I am the maid so I am tempted to clean because I figured I started getting ready extra early therefore I have some extra time to clean.

As I go through my closet trying to decide what to donate I start thinking I would be so bored if I wore the same clothes over and over! And I love my clothes just like Carrie Bradshaw. The 50% I was so gung-ho to donate has dropped down to 5%.

Although I absolutely love the idea of living life as simply as living out of a suitcase it is not a possibility for me. Even though I know reducing my belongings would help tremendously in my quest to no longer be tardy I just can't do it yet. I'm hoping that one day I will achieve the zen state and actually give 50% of my belongings away and be free of it all. I will try to hold onto the feeling I had when the revelation came that living out of a suitcase is liberating. I will try to let my suitcase be my guide. But in the meantime, the size of my suitcase will have to be several steam trunks.