Kati's new shop Kaizen Kreations

I recently decided that I needed to take up some of my hobbies again. The kids consume 99.9% of my time but that still leaves .1% . For my birthday I got a spiral saw, a jigsaw, a sander and a staple gun. I know it's a little strange, but that's what I wanted. I've been keeping myself busy with painting, sewing, crocheting, etc. It's been a nice outlet. One project turned into two, two turned to five, and now I have completed over 50 projects and have also recently tried my hand at organic soap making. I love working with my hands and love new challenges. I opened a shop on Etsy. If you have never checked out Etsy you are missing out big time. It's a website similar to Ebay except every item on it is hand made. To look at my store go to www.etsy.com and search under sellers (in the drop-down menu) for kaizenkreations. Check out my store on regular basis because I'm adding new items weekly. I also take custom orders and will, if possible, deliver things to friends and family so you don't have to pay for shipping. Here are a few examples of things I've been working on:

Happy Holidays Sign
Happy Harvest Sign
Happy Halloween Sign
Angel Christmas ornament
Jar Snowman decoration
Angel Decoration

Ladybug garden stake
Light bulb Penguin ornament
Penguin ornament
Pine cone ornament
Run run as fast as you can sign
Light bulb snowman ornament
Snowman Christmas decoration
Snowman ornament
Wine bottle snowman decoration
Sittings with Santa Paws sign
Winter Welcome sign

The Kaizen garden

Being raised as a country girl, my family always had a garden. I finally decided it was time for our family to have a garden of our own. It would have been much faster, and a heck of a lot cleaner to do it on my own, but I decided to let the kids join in. They were both really interested and Caden wanted to help with every part of it. He helped put the dirt in the pots, he helped poke the holes, drop the seeds in, and cover the seeds. He really liked using the little rake and shovel. Téa stayed close by and kept a watchful eye on everything we were doing. We planted ORGANIC: tomatoes, bell peppers, lettuce, squash, cilantro, basil, marjoram, chives, and oregano. So far the garden is doing great and we will soon be replanting them into big planter boxes. Hopefully we'll get some yummy food real soon.

The kids helping plant our garden
Caden spreading out the dirt
Téa's turn
Téa enjoying the sunshine
More of my little gardeners
Future farmer?????

May 2009

Another month has come and gone and the Kaizen Klan marches on. Caden is still going to school 3 days a week and therapy 2 days a week. He LOVES school and all the teachers and kids in his class. He loves it so much that as soon as he sees the door to his classroom he goes into a full blown sprint and ditches mommy. When it's time to head home it's the complete opposite, he drags his feet and takes his sweet time. His sensory issues have gotten a little better. We recently started a casein (dairy) free diet. After 2 weeks on that we are supposed to go gluten free (no wheat, barley, or oats) for 6 months. Recent research has shown that kids with autism or sensory issues like Caden digest foods differently than other people. When they consume milk protein(casein), it leads to high levels of protein by-products, called casomorphine. These by-products may then affect behavior like a drug would. Specifically, in these children, casomorphines could reduce their desire for social interaction, block pain messages, and increase confusion. If milk protein is taken out of the diet, the idea is that this will reduce the level of casomorphines, and behavior will improve as a result. So, for the next 6 months we will be directing a lot of our attention to Caden's diet and hopefully we'll see some improvements.

My 2 little monsters
Crazy Caden
Hanging out
Caden's Masterpiece
He finds the perfect place for every block .....and then Téa comes and destroys it
Caden in the police car
Spending time with sissy

Téa upset because Caden's in her baby doll stroller
Trying to figure a way to get him out
If that doesn't work resort to screaming your head off

And then there was Téa. It's crazy to think that I have a 3 1/2 yr old and a 13 month old. Well, Tea is walking everywhere and even running a little bit now (probably as a result of trying to escape her big brother). She is also talking. She says "Daddy", "Mama", "Ditty" (kitty), "wower" (flower), "dat"(that), "nak" (snack), "Bat" (bath) and is using baby signs as well. She signs, "more", "thank you", "please", " all done", and "milk". I keep telling Don give her another 6 months and then she'll be talking back to us. She has also recently discovered that she can climb on anything. She scales up the couches, chairs, beds and anything else in her sights. She's quite the little dare devil. I wonder where she gets that from?



Silly Téa
Téa "helping" mommy with her sewing project
It's like she knows exactly where she shouldn't be
Is this where it goes mommy?
Lounging with the dogs
Little Ragamuffin
Téa sporting the fireman hat
Look at her go
And yes, that is MMA on in the background
Yay, look at me
Silly girl
Téa taking her baby for a ride

Reading the dictionary, my little intellectual
Snuggling on the pillow
Torturing Mandy cat
Her turn in the car
Mommy's little bumble bee

Daddy makes a perfect tunnel
There she goes
Cheerio butt. I guess she's saving those for later
Mandy keeping a close eye on the dogs from the papasan chair
Daddy and his beautiful niece Aleah