We are officially on our long Thanksgiving break now, and it couldn't have come at a better time! I really felt like I had no margin of patience whatsoever, and by the end of each day, as kids were crabby and loud, I was having a very hard time dealing. But we've all been sleeping in yesterday and today, and yesterday I had a massage! It was at a new place, Massage Envy, which is a franchise place for massages. Who knew?! They were running a special for first time customers--$49 for 1 hr--so that's why I went. I booked the appointment for 2:00. This is really the first time that I have actually booked something, knowing that I would just be going off and leaving the kids by themselves, and I must say that I did struggle with a lot of guilt as I drove off. It all seemed so frivolous and spendy and just selfish! But I tamped down the guilt and went on, LOL.
The place was really nice and relaxing. When I made the appointment, the girl asked me what kind of massage I wanted, and I said "deep tissue", since I have some specific problems in my shoulder and hip that I am always looking to address. I didn't really feel like the therapist did much deep tissue work--it still was mostly Swedish, with the long strokes. That feels great and is very relaxing, but I had high hopes for more kinks to be worked out of my hip and shoulder. Oh well. I told Bob that I really think you get the best massages from students doing their practical work at student clinics. There they want to practice what they've been learning and actually try to fix your problem! At a place like this, they just want you to come back (because the regular price of an hour massage is $98, unless you become a "member" and pay $59 a month, which entitles you to one massage a month!).
I did notice later that night, however, that the massage really was better than I gave it credit for at first! Everyone was fussing at each other again . . . but I was floating above it all! Really, I felt so calm and unbothered. The difference was truly amazing.
I also had some time to finally look at another nagging problem of mine Sunday night. I have had this very sore spot on the side of my right middle finger, not too far from the bottom of the nail bed. Some of you may remember my nightmare finger problem back in March 08, where after we all had strep and pinkeye, I got a staph infection in a hangnail, which had to be lanced, etc. Well, that was also in this same finger, in almost the same spot. What is up with that?! It has been very painful to the touch for a little while now--I can't remember when it started--and lately it had gotten a little raised bump there, like a callus or wart or something. I wondered if maybe it was a plantar wart, which I have never seen before, but Ed L. looked at it after Bible study and said it didn't look like that. The bump had what looked like a tiny black spot in the middle of it, so finally had the brainstorm that maybe, possibly it might be a splinter. I soaked it for a long time Friday night, and by Sunday I got out the tweezers. After some digging, I finally successfully removed a very thin thorn-like thing that apparently went straight down into my finger some time when I didn't even notice it! I am still running my finger over the area in amazement, as it no longer hurts! It's interesting to consider what you will eventually accept as normal when you really don't have time to investigate something that is wrong, LOL.
So I am feeling much better and healthier after just 2 days of my break! Imagine how great I'll feel in 2 more weeks! : )
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
Faith is 9 months!
Faith had her 9-month well-baby appointment today. She was 15 pounds, 1 ounce, and 28 inches long. This keeps her solidly in the 2nd percentile, so she is still a peanut. The doctor was okay with that, as long as she doesn't drop anymore. She said that Faith was advanced in many ways for 9 months, and she has some rolls of subcutaneous fat on her legs and arms, so she is obviously healthy! Faith is turning out to be a great eater! She is really coming along with table foods. I usually give her some baby food at the beginning, just to make sure she gets enough, but she finger-feeds herself the rest of the meal, whatever we are having. She has 6 teeth, though, so chewing is not too hard! I haven't given her just plain meat, but anything in a soup or casserole I give her, as well as plain vegetables.
She pulls herself to standing all the time, and she will even stand by herself for a few seconds if we let go. She creeps along the edge of chairs or tables, so maybe walking is not too far off? She is a very speedy crawler! If I put her down in the family room and walk back to the kitchen, it's just a few seconds before she is right back under my feet and pulling up on my legs, like in the picture! That view is one I get quite a bit! Her new skill is climbing stairs. I'm working with her on turning herself around to go down them backwards, but she definitely hasn't mastered that yet! We are having to be very diligent about guarding the stairs!
I have started bringing a bottle for her the past few weeks of CC, so I didn't have to take time out to nurse her. She doesn't love the bottle, but she will drink enough of it to hold her off until lunchtime, even without a nap. That has been nice. She will drink water from a sippy cup, but I haven't tried anything else. I just gave her regular formula in the bottle, and she has tolerated that. I was a bit concerned, since she is an odd-numbered baby, and our odd ones (LOL) tend to be more allergy-prone. So far so good, however.
So at 9 months, Faith is a happy, active little baby who loves all her siblings, and is adored by them in turn! What a life!
Whew!
Finally I can take a little bit of a breath! I am done with co-ops until after New Year's! I have really enjoyed CC, and I know the kids are learning a lot (even Anna walks around the house singing the history songs), but it has sure taken a lot out of me! Technically we still have 2 more weeks of our other co-op after Thanksgiving, a fine arts unit, but we are just skipping it. In fact, most of the kids and I are going to Ohio to visit! A vacation!! I say "most" because it looks like Nathan is going to stay here, and my dad is going to come here, and they are going to work on some painting/projects around the house while all the rugrats and anklebiters are out of the way. Oh, I hope they can get a lot done! There sure is a lot to do.
Originally the plan was that we would drive 2 vans out to Ohio, with Bob towing a trailer of stuff that we didn't want to store. But now he has dithered around to not being as excited about PCSing, so it looks like that plan is not going to happen. We have not gotten official orders yet, and so Bob hasn't had to make a formal decision, but if he were to have to decide today, we wouldn't go. Sigh. It's all been stressful. I guess I'll say more when we know for sure.
In the meantime, I am REALLY, REALLY looking forward to seeing my mom and Amy, and just relaxing, without having to be somewhere and preparing stuff all the time.
In other news, our digital camera has died. I'm so thankful that it waited to kick the bucket until after the Egypt 5th week! I had a lot of trouble uploading those pictures onto our computer, so I'm wondering if it wasn't in the death spiral then, so to speak. We got it the Christmas before Anna was born, back in 2005. I was not excited about it at.all. because I knew we'd never get pictures developed from all the images we would take, just like everyone always complained about. But then Dan and Melinda introduced me to Snapfish, and that hasn't been a problem for me! Last week I was going through stuff in my desk, and I found our old camera. It was on pictures number 22, so I took a few more pictures of the kids to finish out the roll of film. The little ones (Caleb and younger) were confused that you couldn't just see the picture immediately ("Where's the screen?"), and when the film was rewinding, they were quite amazed at all the noise! Now I need to get that film developed. Anyway, I finally did consent to start taking pictures with the digital camera. Now I guess we need to look for another one. I abhor shopping for technical things, because there are so many different options out there, all of them expensive, and it is so hard to tell which features really add value (especially to a non-technophile like me), and which ones just sound impressive (but we would never use). Maybe a camera will be this year's after-Thanksgiving sale purchase? Bob had cracked the code on that--shop the internet! Same great deals, no standing in line with crazy people! He's been able to get great deals on internet things the past few years, so we'll see what this year brings.
Originally the plan was that we would drive 2 vans out to Ohio, with Bob towing a trailer of stuff that we didn't want to store. But now he has dithered around to not being as excited about PCSing, so it looks like that plan is not going to happen. We have not gotten official orders yet, and so Bob hasn't had to make a formal decision, but if he were to have to decide today, we wouldn't go. Sigh. It's all been stressful. I guess I'll say more when we know for sure.
In the meantime, I am REALLY, REALLY looking forward to seeing my mom and Amy, and just relaxing, without having to be somewhere and preparing stuff all the time.
In other news, our digital camera has died. I'm so thankful that it waited to kick the bucket until after the Egypt 5th week! I had a lot of trouble uploading those pictures onto our computer, so I'm wondering if it wasn't in the death spiral then, so to speak. We got it the Christmas before Anna was born, back in 2005. I was not excited about it at.all. because I knew we'd never get pictures developed from all the images we would take, just like everyone always complained about. But then Dan and Melinda introduced me to Snapfish, and that hasn't been a problem for me! Last week I was going through stuff in my desk, and I found our old camera. It was on pictures number 22, so I took a few more pictures of the kids to finish out the roll of film. The little ones (Caleb and younger) were confused that you couldn't just see the picture immediately ("Where's the screen?"), and when the film was rewinding, they were quite amazed at all the noise! Now I need to get that film developed. Anyway, I finally did consent to start taking pictures with the digital camera. Now I guess we need to look for another one. I abhor shopping for technical things, because there are so many different options out there, all of them expensive, and it is so hard to tell which features really add value (especially to a non-technophile like me), and which ones just sound impressive (but we would never use). Maybe a camera will be this year's after-Thanksgiving sale purchase? Bob had cracked the code on that--shop the internet! Same great deals, no standing in line with crazy people! He's been able to get great deals on internet things the past few years, so we'll see what this year brings.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Ancient Egypt 5th Week Activity
The grand finale for our Egypt unit at co-op was this morning. It was a lot of fun, but I think I can speak for all the teachers when I say I'm glad it's over, LOL. Above you can see 4 ancient Egyptians, come back in the flesh! Luke's tier painted these cool collars. The rest of the tiers colored ones made out of paper from Oriental Trading Co., but they were stiff and uncomfortable, so I came home with a bunch of them.
Here I am in the mummy room. I spoke for about 10 minutes, talking about the process of mummification. I welcomed the kids to our embalming shop and said I had heard they wanted to be my apprentices. I talked about the natron we used ("finest in all Egypt"!), and what the salt did to the body. I showed the mummified, but unwrapped, chicken that you can see me holding in the picture above. The kids were fairly impressed by the chicken, LOL. I let them all smell him, and many, especially the boys, also wanted to touch him. On the table behind me you can see some "canopic jars" that another lady made several years ago. Her kids are all grown out of TNT, so she let us borrow them. King Cluck's golden coffin is on the other side of me on the table.
After I talked, we let them practice their emblaming skills on bananas. They split the left side with a plastic knife, and then scooped out the innards with a plastic spoon. They placed the goop into their dixie cup "canopic jars". Then they taped the slit with white waterproof tape, and wrapped the banana with toilet paper strips. Above you can see Luke and Caleb McC with their finished products.
Nathan was my able assistant, and here you can see him standing with King Cluck in his golden coffin, ready for his journey to the next life. They are next to a mummy that we also borrowed from Joy, the one with the canopic jars. It was technically a Halloween decoration, with spooky green eyes, that you were supposed to put batteries in so that it would light up and make spooky sounds. We did not do this, LOL, and in fact, we re-wrapped him so that the eyes were covered up, and so that he looked more like a recently mummified body, as opposed to one stumbling out of a tomb 1500 years later. By the end of the time, his strips were sagging, however. He was an impressive ornament for our mummy shop!Another mom was in the room with me, and she did yeoman's work, keeping up with the demand for toilet paper strips and pieces of tape! We had a lot of fun together! Neissy also did a wonderful job decorating the room with pictures, and even a huge poster of Isis that she drew and our kids colored! Her daughter, who is about the same age as Anna, was also a great helper, passing out cotton balls and toilet paper strips.
There were also 3 other rooms that the tiers rotated through. One of them was an excavation lab, so the kids could see what archeologists do. They had a great time brushing of artifacts they found in their gridded areas. Jonathan was excited to find hieroglyphics on a piece of pottery! Here he is with Pharaoh Daniel McC, who is sporting the double crown of unified Egypt, of course. Another room was the food/music room. There the kids got to sample pomegranete seeds, dates, grapes, and flatbread. Then they learned the motions to "Pharaoh, Pharoah", that old camp classic, which they then sang.
The other room was a tomb room. One part of the room was darkened, lit with little lamps,a nd they talked about tombs and treasures. Then they heard the story of the discovery of King Tut's tomb, and they went through a little maze. There they saw the "treasure" that was left in the tomb, drew some hieroglyphics of their own on the "walls" of the tomb, saw Tut's sarcophagus, and played the Senet game which was left in the tomb. Pretty cool!
So all in all, it was a great day, and the kids had fun! I think they all learned alot about Ancient Egypt over the past 5 weeks, and I am sure they will remember a lot! I'm tired though, and so we're going out to Chik-Fil-A for dinner tonight! Yay for modern conveniences!
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Still Alive . . .
I just wanted to let everyone know that I have made it through my 2 weeks of teaching at co-op! I think the lessons went well. The first week was about hieroglyphics, and for the second week, we talked about the Egyptian religion, specifically the 10 plagues of Egpyt and how they were attacks on 10 of their gods. It was really interesting for to learn about too! Now we just have the 5th week activity, but I, in a fit of rare inspiration, have already typed up everything I'm going to say for that! I still have to finish painting the cardboard mummies, and make the coffin for King Cluck, though.
Next week is the last week to teach tin whistle at CC also. Amazingly, I already have my lesson done and hand-outs ready for that too! That is not due to any foresight, however. Today at CC we had a special guest speaker (a man from South Africa who is also a missionary there--fascinating man! I wish he could have spoken longer!), and so we were running short on time. Also, the tutor who has been teaching tin whistle to the little guys was sick, so I would have had to teach all the classes together. I can't even fathom how that would have worked, so I told the director I wasn't interested, and could we just skip it for today?! Thankfully she said yes, so now I'm all prepared for next week! Whew!
I'm so tired now, though. We've been busy cleaning and organizing as well. Bob had off Wednesday for Veterans' Day, and we really got a lot done (not that there isn't tons more to do, LOL). Hopefully this weekend will also be productive. We need a few nice days' of weather so we can finish up some outside stuff. Wednesday it poured down rain steadily, so that was not that day. We did throw away a ton more things.
We've also been giving back things to people as we find them. In our shed we have the smallest size of boys' bike, the one that all our boys learned how to ride on. It was actually handed down to us from the L's, after Anthony and Zachary had used it. I must say it has served faithfully! Anyhow, now the L's have Theodore, and while he won't be riding a bike for a few more years, it would certainly be fitting for him to learn to ride the same bike that his brothers both learned on! So we have given that back to the L's.
We're still dealing with this little 2-day fever sickness thing that we've been struggling with this season. We all went to church 2 Sundays ago, and then Grace got sick again Saturday. And then Faith, and then Nathan on Wednesday and Caleb today. Nathan and Caleb had to stay home by themselves during CC today. Grace and Faith are still really snotty and snuffly. I'm ready for us all to be healthy!
Right now Bob and the kids are making pizzelles, a crunchy cookie from Eastern Europe that you cook on a pizzelle maker, which is like a little waffle maker. They tried a chocolate variation, with chocolate syrup so Caleb could have some, which were quite tasty. They like to bend the hot pizzelles under a little bowl to make it into a bowl shape. These are delicious as ice cream bowls, and that is what is being planned for later this evening!
Next week is the last week to teach tin whistle at CC also. Amazingly, I already have my lesson done and hand-outs ready for that too! That is not due to any foresight, however. Today at CC we had a special guest speaker (a man from South Africa who is also a missionary there--fascinating man! I wish he could have spoken longer!), and so we were running short on time. Also, the tutor who has been teaching tin whistle to the little guys was sick, so I would have had to teach all the classes together. I can't even fathom how that would have worked, so I told the director I wasn't interested, and could we just skip it for today?! Thankfully she said yes, so now I'm all prepared for next week! Whew!
I'm so tired now, though. We've been busy cleaning and organizing as well. Bob had off Wednesday for Veterans' Day, and we really got a lot done (not that there isn't tons more to do, LOL). Hopefully this weekend will also be productive. We need a few nice days' of weather so we can finish up some outside stuff. Wednesday it poured down rain steadily, so that was not that day. We did throw away a ton more things.
We've also been giving back things to people as we find them. In our shed we have the smallest size of boys' bike, the one that all our boys learned how to ride on. It was actually handed down to us from the L's, after Anthony and Zachary had used it. I must say it has served faithfully! Anyhow, now the L's have Theodore, and while he won't be riding a bike for a few more years, it would certainly be fitting for him to learn to ride the same bike that his brothers both learned on! So we have given that back to the L's.
We're still dealing with this little 2-day fever sickness thing that we've been struggling with this season. We all went to church 2 Sundays ago, and then Grace got sick again Saturday. And then Faith, and then Nathan on Wednesday and Caleb today. Nathan and Caleb had to stay home by themselves during CC today. Grace and Faith are still really snotty and snuffly. I'm ready for us all to be healthy!
Right now Bob and the kids are making pizzelles, a crunchy cookie from Eastern Europe that you cook on a pizzelle maker, which is like a little waffle maker. They tried a chocolate variation, with chocolate syrup so Caleb could have some, which were quite tasty. They like to bend the hot pizzelles under a little bowl to make it into a bowl shape. These are delicious as ice cream bowls, and that is what is being planned for later this evening!
Friday, November 06, 2009
Happy Birthday, Caleb!
Caleb turned 8 on Thursday! He got to bring Laffy Taffy candy for the kids in his Classical Conversation class, which he really enjoyed. He also got to pick his dinner, and again he picked "tuna pockets", which makes me laugh, since that is something I make when I am stretched for time and need something easy! Hey, it's a favorite. We had garlic stir-fried green beans too.We gave him a Redskins jersey, which he was really thrilled with. We all know the Redskins aren't very good this year, but he really wanted a jersey of some kind, and well, Redskins ones are what they sell around here, so he was quite happy.
He requested an F-22 cake, which I made today and we took to Bible study tonight. It went together fairly easily, although I was worried about the tail fins, since they are at an angle. As it turned out, I should have secured them with skewers because the left one did topple once we got to the L's house. Oh well. We put a toothpick in so we could take pictures there! Can anyone guess what I used for the nose antenna? It's not a pretzel, since I didn't have any little sticks, only huge pretzel rods. It's a . . . .. . . piece of dry spaghetti! It worked out just fine!
The reason the frosting is all mottled is that the real planes are painted in 2-tone gray like that. Radar-deflecting and all, you know. We got out several books from the library, even some specifically about the F-22, so I know of what I speak, LOL.
At home, Caleb laid out how he wanted his candles to be positioned. He had the clever idea to put 2 sticking out from the engines, like afterburners. It did make for a cool effect!
Happy birthday, Caleb! I hope this next year is a wonderful one for you!!Friday, October 30, 2009
Radio Silence
Luke was scrolling down my blog today, and he noted that I had not been posting very much lately. He's correct, and it's going to get worse before it gets any better at all! The next 3 weeks are going to be crazy for me. They are my 3 weeks to teach at our big co-op, so I am furiously trying to get my lessons in order for that. For the first week, we're going to talk about hieroglyphics, numbers, papyrus, scribes, and anything else about writing that I can think of. Right now I'm working on making cartouches of everyone's names. I'm making all the letters, then cutting them apart and putting them in baggies so they can glue the pictures that make up their names onto a brown construction paper cartouche. Even though I borrowed a stencil for the hieroglyphs themselves, this is still time-consuming, and I have other activities to prepare. And that's only for the first week!
For the second week, I'm going to talk about some of their false gods, particularly the ones relating to the 10 plagues of Moses. I'm also going to talk about a few of the famous pharoahs, and we have to make some necklaces and arm bands for them to wear at the 5th week activity. The 5th week is what I am doing all the chicken mummifying and cardboard painting, so thatis also taking up some time!
In the middle of all this, I still have to tutor at Classical Conversations, and since I volunteered to teach tin whistle to the 3/4 and 5/6 graders, I have that as well to prepare for! I think I must have been impaired when I signed up for that, LOL. It has been fun, even though I don't think we're going to get anything really approaching harmony. Some kids really do work at home (this would not be mine, however, LOL), and they sound really good, and then there are those who could be really good, but don't put in the effort required, and then there are those with learning disabilities. Definitely a challenge, and the prepared lessons move at a snail's pace, so that's why I am doing so much of my own stuff.
We have 2 more weeks of Upward soccer. Nathan has already started practices for his junior high homeschool basketball team, and Luke will start his Upward basketball practices soon as well. We are going out to Chuck E. Cheese tomorrow night for our annual non-Halloween celebration with our Bible study. Sunday night we have our monthly church growth group at our house, so things have to be picked up and decent around here! Caleb's birthday is next Thursday, so I have a cake to make for that (he has requested an F-22).
In the middle of all this is the on-going uncertainty of a potential overseas move. Talk about radio silence! It seems that AFPC just becomes a ghost town in September, after the summer cycle is over and done. No one is there! Bob's assignment guy is supposed to be back Nov. 16, so I guess we will know more about a report date, etc. then. In the meantime, the people in Guam are thinking we're coming. Carolyn, my friend over there, talked to the vice wing commander's wife at a function, who told her they were expecting us! Bob continues to sort of be hot and cold about the whole thing. Just the other day he told me he was sending in a resume to a guy from church! But I think we are leaning towards going, unless something really miraculous and clearly from God drops in our lap soon. Of course, that leads to its own set of busyness! I have been deluttering right and left, and trying to get things organized. If this all happens, then it looks like we will try to drive back to Ohio right after Thanksgiving in 2 vans, with Bob pulling a trailer behind the Honda filled with stuff to leave at my parents' house. Then he would drive back here with my dad, and they would work on painting, repairing some drywall, putting the trim around the hardwood, etc., without the distraction of lots of other people around. I think we could stay away for maybe 10 days or so, since the boys will have basketball. We're thinking, based on what the AFPC guy said way back in August, that Bob will probably have a report date in January. Since we have so many commitments here, the kids and I would most likely follow the end of March, when those are all winding down. I am just not thinking about a 25 hour plane trip with 7 kids by myself, so kindly do not remind me of this, LOL.
So that's where we are now, and if you are wondering why I'm not posting much in the next few weeks, just think "Ancient Egypt"!
For the second week, I'm going to talk about some of their false gods, particularly the ones relating to the 10 plagues of Moses. I'm also going to talk about a few of the famous pharoahs, and we have to make some necklaces and arm bands for them to wear at the 5th week activity. The 5th week is what I am doing all the chicken mummifying and cardboard painting, so thatis also taking up some time!
In the middle of all this, I still have to tutor at Classical Conversations, and since I volunteered to teach tin whistle to the 3/4 and 5/6 graders, I have that as well to prepare for! I think I must have been impaired when I signed up for that, LOL. It has been fun, even though I don't think we're going to get anything really approaching harmony. Some kids really do work at home (this would not be mine, however, LOL), and they sound really good, and then there are those who could be really good, but don't put in the effort required, and then there are those with learning disabilities. Definitely a challenge, and the prepared lessons move at a snail's pace, so that's why I am doing so much of my own stuff.
We have 2 more weeks of Upward soccer. Nathan has already started practices for his junior high homeschool basketball team, and Luke will start his Upward basketball practices soon as well. We are going out to Chuck E. Cheese tomorrow night for our annual non-Halloween celebration with our Bible study. Sunday night we have our monthly church growth group at our house, so things have to be picked up and decent around here! Caleb's birthday is next Thursday, so I have a cake to make for that (he has requested an F-22).
In the middle of all this is the on-going uncertainty of a potential overseas move. Talk about radio silence! It seems that AFPC just becomes a ghost town in September, after the summer cycle is over and done. No one is there! Bob's assignment guy is supposed to be back Nov. 16, so I guess we will know more about a report date, etc. then. In the meantime, the people in Guam are thinking we're coming. Carolyn, my friend over there, talked to the vice wing commander's wife at a function, who told her they were expecting us! Bob continues to sort of be hot and cold about the whole thing. Just the other day he told me he was sending in a resume to a guy from church! But I think we are leaning towards going, unless something really miraculous and clearly from God drops in our lap soon. Of course, that leads to its own set of busyness! I have been deluttering right and left, and trying to get things organized. If this all happens, then it looks like we will try to drive back to Ohio right after Thanksgiving in 2 vans, with Bob pulling a trailer behind the Honda filled with stuff to leave at my parents' house. Then he would drive back here with my dad, and they would work on painting, repairing some drywall, putting the trim around the hardwood, etc., without the distraction of lots of other people around. I think we could stay away for maybe 10 days or so, since the boys will have basketball. We're thinking, based on what the AFPC guy said way back in August, that Bob will probably have a report date in January. Since we have so many commitments here, the kids and I would most likely follow the end of March, when those are all winding down. I am just not thinking about a 25 hour plane trip with 7 kids by myself, so kindly do not remind me of this, LOL.
So that's where we are now, and if you are wondering why I'm not posting much in the next few weeks, just think "Ancient Egypt"!
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Wonder Fix?
Grace has started what has become a big annoyance. We have a small CD player in the kitchen, and a few weeks ago she figured out what button was the "play" button, and she started pushing it when she wanted to hear music. That didn't really bother me, so I didn't say anything. Next she moved on to changing out the CD in the player. Soon enough I noticed that, strangely enough, all the CDs in the kitchen were developing terrible skipping problems! They were getting filthy dirty, and several of them developed permanent scratches. Now the CDs we are talking about are mainly kids' ones, and at first they were ones I didn't really care about--a Little People animal one that is a favorite of hers, but which drives the boys bananas, a free Disney one with 7 songs (sung by "Goofy" and "Mickey") that came in a diapers box . . . etc. But then, as I would move over other CDs, like some kids hymns ones, she would work her magic on those as well. I told her not to move the CDs around anymore, but she would be "helpful" in other ways, like by making sure to put away any CDs that anyone had left out for just a minute! It was getting to the point that any time we turned on a CD, we were all ready to leap out of our chairs around the kitchen and family room to run in and skip to the next song when it would get stuck, which would happen about 5-6 times a CD! I was getting very frustrated, plus I was worried about something happening to an actual disk I cared about, like a Latin one or something.
A few weekends ago, Bob and the kids were working outside on the deck, and they brought the CD player outside. I noticed that Grace had switched a CD while out there, and the next day I discovered that one of the kids hymns ones was actually missing. It didn't take a genius to figure out that she must have dropped in outside somewhere, probably through the slats of the deck. Grrrrr. I was very annoyed at that.
Today it all came to a head. CDs were skipping everywhere. The boys were working outside. Lo and behold, they came in to tell me that they had found the missing CD! It had fallen through the deck (I should be a detective), landing in the roof of the shed under there. I didn't think it was rescuable, but Bob managed to reach it. It was, if you can imgine, pretty scratched up though. I wasn't willing to just give up without a fair try, so I googled "repair CD scratches". A number of sites recommended rubbing with Brasso, which we don't have, but several sites also suggested trying toothpaste. Well, that is something we have a good deal of, so I got a tube of toothpaste and several Q-tips, and I started rubbing (out from the center only, of course; never around!). I rubbed all the problem CDs, and I have been trying them out the whole evening. To my amazement, the toothpaste really helped tremendously! The animal CD was the worst, and it still skipped 3 times, but that is a HUGE improvement over its previous performance! A few of the other CDs still had a few trouble spots, but most of the time they were able to correct themselves! No more leaping up to skip the player to the next song! Now Grace is under strict orders to never touch CDs under any circumstance (at least until she gets better about keeping her hands clean, LOL). I'm sure tons of people already knew about this little hint, but I wanted to pass it on for those who were in the dark, like me. Don't just toss your skipping CDs! Try toothpaste first! It can't hurt!
A few weekends ago, Bob and the kids were working outside on the deck, and they brought the CD player outside. I noticed that Grace had switched a CD while out there, and the next day I discovered that one of the kids hymns ones was actually missing. It didn't take a genius to figure out that she must have dropped in outside somewhere, probably through the slats of the deck. Grrrrr. I was very annoyed at that.
Today it all came to a head. CDs were skipping everywhere. The boys were working outside. Lo and behold, they came in to tell me that they had found the missing CD! It had fallen through the deck (I should be a detective), landing in the roof of the shed under there. I didn't think it was rescuable, but Bob managed to reach it. It was, if you can imgine, pretty scratched up though. I wasn't willing to just give up without a fair try, so I googled "repair CD scratches". A number of sites recommended rubbing with Brasso, which we don't have, but several sites also suggested trying toothpaste. Well, that is something we have a good deal of, so I got a tube of toothpaste and several Q-tips, and I started rubbing (out from the center only, of course; never around!). I rubbed all the problem CDs, and I have been trying them out the whole evening. To my amazement, the toothpaste really helped tremendously! The animal CD was the worst, and it still skipped 3 times, but that is a HUGE improvement over its previous performance! A few of the other CDs still had a few trouble spots, but most of the time they were able to correct themselves! No more leaping up to skip the player to the next song! Now Grace is under strict orders to never touch CDs under any circumstance (at least until she gets better about keeping her hands clean, LOL). I'm sure tons of people already knew about this little hint, but I wanted to pass it on for those who were in the dark, like me. Don't just toss your skipping CDs! Try toothpaste first! It can't hurt!
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Sickness Again
I think this sickness is never completely going to leave! Luke and Faith both ran fevers today. Nathan is still coughing, and it's been at least 2 weeks since he started. He is not running a fever or seeming sick in any other way than the hacking sound he makes every so often, but still, I think we're all ready for that to go away!
No one has really been all that sick, but it just keeps coming back. Bob is teaching children's church tomorrow, so that means I'll be home during church with Luke and Faith. I'll probably keep Grace home too. She is better, although she is still a bit snuffly, and I know she has sinus congestion. She keeps pointing to her cheek and telling me it hurts, but she's not running a fever anymore, or having gunky green snot, so she doesn't have a sinus infection (yet). Nathan is also having sinus congestion. He asked me the other day how one knew if one had a cavity, because his tooth really hurt on the right side of his mouth up on top. I told him I thought it was sinus pressure, and it would go away soon. I asked him yesterday how it was feeling. He said better except when he did this: and he threw his head violently forward: or when he hit his pillow like this: and he threw his head violently backwards. LOL! So my prescription was "don't do that".
Anyhow, Bob stayed home last week, and I stayed home the week before, so it's been awhile since we were in church together as a family! I'm ready for us all to be better. Amazingly, I haven't gotten this bug. I pray that continues because not only do I have my Classical Conversations duties, which now include teaching tin whistle to the 3rd-6th grades, but also it's coming up on my turn to teach at our other co-op in another week. I'll teach on Ancient Egypt for 2 weeks, and then we'll have the 5th week activity, where I am in the "mummy room". So this would not be a good time for me to be sick!
No one has really been all that sick, but it just keeps coming back. Bob is teaching children's church tomorrow, so that means I'll be home during church with Luke and Faith. I'll probably keep Grace home too. She is better, although she is still a bit snuffly, and I know she has sinus congestion. She keeps pointing to her cheek and telling me it hurts, but she's not running a fever anymore, or having gunky green snot, so she doesn't have a sinus infection (yet). Nathan is also having sinus congestion. He asked me the other day how one knew if one had a cavity, because his tooth really hurt on the right side of his mouth up on top. I told him I thought it was sinus pressure, and it would go away soon. I asked him yesterday how it was feeling. He said better except when he did this: and he threw his head violently forward: or when he hit his pillow like this: and he threw his head violently backwards. LOL! So my prescription was "don't do that".
Anyhow, Bob stayed home last week, and I stayed home the week before, so it's been awhile since we were in church together as a family! I'm ready for us all to be better. Amazingly, I haven't gotten this bug. I pray that continues because not only do I have my Classical Conversations duties, which now include teaching tin whistle to the 3rd-6th grades, but also it's coming up on my turn to teach at our other co-op in another week. I'll teach on Ancient Egypt for 2 weeks, and then we'll have the 5th week activity, where I am in the "mummy room". So this would not be a good time for me to be sick!
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Mummifying--The Final Steps
Way, way back on Aug. 25, I posted about starting to mummify King Cluck. Well, I continued to faithfully change his salt/baking powder/baking soda/spice mixture until, after 4 weeks or so, the salt no longer got wet. By that time he was residing comfortably in his gallon ziploc freezer bag on top of the dryer, and I had started a second chicken mummy. That one is going to the demo one, the one which isn't wrapped, so everyone can see what a mummy looks like under the wrapping. Well, that mummy ("Am-Hen-Otep") is also finished, and I figured I had better get busy wrapping King Cluck, or he wouldn't actually be dry for the big 5th week presentation on Nov. 17!
Step 1: Dust off all the salt possible with a damp paper towel. Dry thoroughly with another paper towel. Here you can see what mummified flesh looks like, since I'm sure this has been a burning question in your mind.
And finally, you display the finished product: a throw pillow! No, kidding again. This is actually King Cluck himself, all ready for his journey to the next world. In person, you would not really be tempted at all to lay your weary head down on him. He is quite smelly, not in an absolutely terrible way, but not in a good way either. In fact, Bob just walked in and suggested we move him out to the garage while his wrappings dry. And I will never be able to enjoy the smell of cinnamon and cloves in quite the same way that I did before.
So just another few weeks, and then I will be able to dislodge permanently both chicken mummies from the house. I am looking forward to that day, believe it or not. We need to make a little coffin and sarcophagus for King Cluck first though. We already have one shoe box picked out.
Step 1: Dust off all the salt possible with a damp paper towel. Dry thoroughly with another paper towel. Here you can see what mummified flesh looks like, since I'm sure this has been a burning question in your mind.
Sterp 2: Rub with teriyaki marinade . . . just kidding! This is actually scented oil I made by filling a jar up with spices, adding oil, and letting it sit for over a week. I told the kids this was the sort of thing the ladies who went to Jesus' tomb on Easter morning would have been carrying, and they were wanting to prepare his body by rubbing oil on it. Of course, he would not have been a mummy, LOL.
Step 3: Fill cavity with cloth strips, and then dip other cloth strips in glue/water mixture. Wrap those around the chicken. You wrap the legs and wings first, separately, and then you wrap the whole thing up.
And finally, you display the finished product: a throw pillow! No, kidding again. This is actually King Cluck himself, all ready for his journey to the next world. In person, you would not really be tempted at all to lay your weary head down on him. He is quite smelly, not in an absolutely terrible way, but not in a good way either. In fact, Bob just walked in and suggested we move him out to the garage while his wrappings dry. And I will never be able to enjoy the smell of cinnamon and cloves in quite the same way that I did before.
So just another few weeks, and then I will be able to dislodge permanently both chicken mummies from the house. I am looking forward to that day, believe it or not. We need to make a little coffin and sarcophagus for King Cluck first though. We already have one shoe box picked out.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Date Night!
Bob and I went out to Chili's last night on a real bonafide date! We had their "3 for $20" deal, where we got an appetizer, 2 entrees, and dessert for $20. Can't beat that! We had a lot of fun. The best part was that we just left. Nathan and Luke watched the kids--no babysitter! It was wonderful! I started heating up leftover spaghetti sauce before we left, and they reheated some noodles to go with it. They served everyone dinner (Faith had already eaten), and then they all went downstairs and watched a video. Faith was poopy once, but Luke was a super stud and changed that. We were gone a little over 2 hours because we also had to pick up Bob's van from a shop. We had taken the big van in for an estimate on the damage from when Bob was rear-ended a few weeks ago. Bob had stopped by the shop after work, paid and picked up the key, and he drove it home, leaving his van there. So after we ate, we drove over there to pick up his van. But when we got home, everything was quiet and normal--just what we wanted to see! I foresee more date nights on a more regular basis in our future. THIS is the nice part of parenting--having kids who are older and responsible!!
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
20 and Counting
One of the books I've recently read during my nursing times was The Duggars: 20 and Counting. My friend Carri recommended it as a light read when we were visiting their farm back in June. I finally got around to requesting it from the library, and I must say I thoroughly enjoyed it! They seem like such a genuinely nice family! Disclaimer: I have never actually watched any of their shows on Discovery, but I do read articles about them in magazines and newspapers, so I felt like I was already familiar with them and their beliefs. I am not a huge Bill Gotherd fan, that's for sure, and I know they follow his teachings pretty faithfully, but there was no attempt to convince anyone they are right or even any putting down of those who might have looser standards for modesty or whatever. Really, there was no preaching in the book at all, but they were so open and sincere about their faith. I loved it!
I always enjoy hearing how couples met, so I was glad they started with that part of their story. I knew they had lived in small houses before they built their big new house because they were commited to never going into debt, but I didn't really know exactly HOW small the houses were, or how very long they lived in them before finally moving. Their first house they had children in was a 900 square foot one with 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom next to a busy road with their used car lot in the front yard! They lived there until after their 5th child was born. Wow. I think I would have gone crazy. And then they moved up to . . . a 3 bedroom, 2 bath house. Woo! That's really spreading out! But they were committed to not going into debt, so they saved up until they could pay cash, and then they had to save up to be able to fix it up. They lived there until their 15th child was born, at which point they could finally move into the big house they live in now, most of which they built themselves. Amazing!
Michelle is really honest in the book. She talks about the exhaustion and the tears, with so many little ones in such a small house. She shares openly about her inverted and sensitive nipples that crack and bleed, which has made nursing very difficult and painful for her. She has talked to many La Leche League volunteers for help, and she has nursed each of her children several months even with the pain. She also shares that her cycles return, even with full-time breastfeeding, at 6-8 weeks, and she's usually pregnant again by the time the baby is 8-9 months. The Well-Trained Mind board has had several vitrolic-filled threads about the Duggars, with people always pompously suggesting that she weans as soon as possible to try to get pregnant, and how that isn't letting God decide the size of the family, but that does not seem to be at all what happens here. Michelle in particular shares a bunch of pretty personal details to try to clear up the nosy misconceptions of people who still won't like them just because of who they are and what they believe.
The book talks about all the businesses they have had, and they were very honest about failures there too. I was very impressed by how the Lord led them into making deals and buying properties, and then how the Lord used those properties later on. Another way the Lord led Jim Bob was to run for state legislature, where he was elected and served for 2 terms. Then Jim Bob felt the Lord telling him to run for the U.S. Senate. There was already an imcumbent Republican, so he didn't even have the support of his party. He lost with only 22% of the vote, and he wondered what had really been accomplished with the run. Some photographer took a picture of Jim Bob and Michelle, along with their 13 kids, as they went to vote. The photo was picked up by the NY Times, which was interesting but nothing to take note of. A little later a freelance writer who had seen the picture called, wanting to write a story about their family. The magazine who had originally been interested decided not to take the story, but eventually Parents magazine ran it. An executive at Discovery Channel saw the Parents article and wanted to do a documentary on the family. So now with all the shows made about them, they have reached maybe even more people than if they had just been sent to D.C. as a congressional family!
I alos got some good hints about how to make things work with a big family. One thing that won't work now, but I am definitley filing away in my "dream house" file is that they have one big room for all their family's clothes, right by their big laundry room (4 washers and 4 dryers). Everything is hung by size, and every night everybody picks out what they will wear the next day and takes it up by their beds. As our boys get older, I can foresee when they are wearing mainly similar sizes. It is already a hassle, and I am somewhat arbitrary about what shirts go on say Caleb's side of the closet versus Jonathan's side. So haivng one big clothes room seems like a great idea! Also, and I don't really think we'll ever be doing this but it is nice, they have a huge (350 sq. ft.) pantry with a roll-up garage door, so they can back their van right up to it and unlaod! THAT sounds convenient!
At the very end of the book, they talk about the upcoming birth of their 18th child, who was born in January 09. They write, "We know it may be difficult to understand how excited we are about another baby's birth, but it's absolutely true. . . When we hold that baby in our arms for tthe first time and admire its unique face and tiny features, we know we'll be filled with the same sense of awe and thankfulness for God's amazing power and grace that has filled our hearts as we've welcomed each one of our children. Each and every child truly is a blessing from God." I know that back when we had maybe 3 or 4 kids, I remember thinking about a family who found out they were expecting #8 and thinking, "Why?" I guess I figured out they already knew basically what their kids would look like, both boy and girl models, so who keep going? But what I have come to realize, and what is hard to explain unless you have lived it, is that you eventually reach a point, believe it or not, when it is not the huge jump to add another child like it is when you are having your second or maybe third. And then you start just looking forward to seeing who it is that God is adding to your family. You get excited to see how the older kids will interact with the new one. You are even more keenly aware of exactly how individual each and every child is because you already have so many very different personalities, with such decided likes and dislikes, and you wonder how each new person will fit, and what their unique gifts and talents will be. I think I am enjoying each baby more and more, as I become more comfortable as a mother, and as I have more and more help from the bigger kids!
So I recommend the book, even if you don't have a big family. I appreciated some of their child-rearing and other tips as well. It's always fun to read about a family that makes ours sound like a small one!
I always enjoy hearing how couples met, so I was glad they started with that part of their story. I knew they had lived in small houses before they built their big new house because they were commited to never going into debt, but I didn't really know exactly HOW small the houses were, or how very long they lived in them before finally moving. Their first house they had children in was a 900 square foot one with 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom next to a busy road with their used car lot in the front yard! They lived there until after their 5th child was born. Wow. I think I would have gone crazy. And then they moved up to . . . a 3 bedroom, 2 bath house. Woo! That's really spreading out! But they were committed to not going into debt, so they saved up until they could pay cash, and then they had to save up to be able to fix it up. They lived there until their 15th child was born, at which point they could finally move into the big house they live in now, most of which they built themselves. Amazing!
Michelle is really honest in the book. She talks about the exhaustion and the tears, with so many little ones in such a small house. She shares openly about her inverted and sensitive nipples that crack and bleed, which has made nursing very difficult and painful for her. She has talked to many La Leche League volunteers for help, and she has nursed each of her children several months even with the pain. She also shares that her cycles return, even with full-time breastfeeding, at 6-8 weeks, and she's usually pregnant again by the time the baby is 8-9 months. The Well-Trained Mind board has had several vitrolic-filled threads about the Duggars, with people always pompously suggesting that she weans as soon as possible to try to get pregnant, and how that isn't letting God decide the size of the family, but that does not seem to be at all what happens here. Michelle in particular shares a bunch of pretty personal details to try to clear up the nosy misconceptions of people who still won't like them just because of who they are and what they believe.
The book talks about all the businesses they have had, and they were very honest about failures there too. I was very impressed by how the Lord led them into making deals and buying properties, and then how the Lord used those properties later on. Another way the Lord led Jim Bob was to run for state legislature, where he was elected and served for 2 terms. Then Jim Bob felt the Lord telling him to run for the U.S. Senate. There was already an imcumbent Republican, so he didn't even have the support of his party. He lost with only 22% of the vote, and he wondered what had really been accomplished with the run. Some photographer took a picture of Jim Bob and Michelle, along with their 13 kids, as they went to vote. The photo was picked up by the NY Times, which was interesting but nothing to take note of. A little later a freelance writer who had seen the picture called, wanting to write a story about their family. The magazine who had originally been interested decided not to take the story, but eventually Parents magazine ran it. An executive at Discovery Channel saw the Parents article and wanted to do a documentary on the family. So now with all the shows made about them, they have reached maybe even more people than if they had just been sent to D.C. as a congressional family!
I alos got some good hints about how to make things work with a big family. One thing that won't work now, but I am definitley filing away in my "dream house" file is that they have one big room for all their family's clothes, right by their big laundry room (4 washers and 4 dryers). Everything is hung by size, and every night everybody picks out what they will wear the next day and takes it up by their beds. As our boys get older, I can foresee when they are wearing mainly similar sizes. It is already a hassle, and I am somewhat arbitrary about what shirts go on say Caleb's side of the closet versus Jonathan's side. So haivng one big clothes room seems like a great idea! Also, and I don't really think we'll ever be doing this but it is nice, they have a huge (350 sq. ft.) pantry with a roll-up garage door, so they can back their van right up to it and unlaod! THAT sounds convenient!
At the very end of the book, they talk about the upcoming birth of their 18th child, who was born in January 09. They write, "We know it may be difficult to understand how excited we are about another baby's birth, but it's absolutely true. . . When we hold that baby in our arms for tthe first time and admire its unique face and tiny features, we know we'll be filled with the same sense of awe and thankfulness for God's amazing power and grace that has filled our hearts as we've welcomed each one of our children. Each and every child truly is a blessing from God." I know that back when we had maybe 3 or 4 kids, I remember thinking about a family who found out they were expecting #8 and thinking, "Why?" I guess I figured out they already knew basically what their kids would look like, both boy and girl models, so who keep going? But what I have come to realize, and what is hard to explain unless you have lived it, is that you eventually reach a point, believe it or not, when it is not the huge jump to add another child like it is when you are having your second or maybe third. And then you start just looking forward to seeing who it is that God is adding to your family. You get excited to see how the older kids will interact with the new one. You are even more keenly aware of exactly how individual each and every child is because you already have so many very different personalities, with such decided likes and dislikes, and you wonder how each new person will fit, and what their unique gifts and talents will be. I think I am enjoying each baby more and more, as I become more comfortable as a mother, and as I have more and more help from the bigger kids!
So I recommend the book, even if you don't have a big family. I appreciated some of their child-rearing and other tips as well. It's always fun to read about a family that makes ours sound like a small one!
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Potty-Training Update
I thought I should also give an update on Grace's potty-training adventures, for those who may possibly be interested. I would say she has regressed, rather than gone forward. She will still pee (mostly) on the potty, but she will not poop on it. She also will not pee on a big potty, like when we go out, after one flushed automatically while she was still on it. She was terrified! Amy P. did give the helpful hint at Bible study that if you cover the red "eye" with a post-it note, then it won't flush until you take that note off, and now I have some post-it notes in the diaper bag, but I'm afraid the whole thing has set her back quite a ways! So this makes it challenging. For example, she peed before we left for Classical Conversations Thursday morning at 8:45. She was still dry when we done there, at noon, but she wouldn't go on the big potty. We eat lunch there, and I knew she couldn't hold it indefinitely , so of course I was not surprised when we finally did get home, after 1:00, that her pull-up was wet. (I put her in one deliberately, realizing something like this would probably happen.) I know people will say to just carry a little potty in the car, but that's not really feasible, especially on CC mornings, when I already have a ton of stuff to carry out, and we're really rushed. Also, it would be a hassle to deal with everyone else while I take Grace out to the car to go potty. So I'm just not going to go there. Eventually she'll get over it and go on the big potty.
Basically, since she is still having so much trouble with pooping on the little potty, I'm just not going to worry about the whole thing right now. I'll put her in pull-ups if she wants that (which she usually does), and then she will most often go potty on her own, but I'm just not going to worry about the pooping thing. Cleaning up a poopy pull-up is not much worse than changing a poopy diaper, and it's a whole lot better than cleaning up poopy underwear (which I have done my fair share of over the past weeks!). I figure we'll revisit the whole underwear thing in a few weeks. In the meantime, whenever ANYONE in the house goes poopy on the potty, they must come out and announce it in a magnificent manner, while everyone else goes wild with cheering. Then the lucky big girl or boy receives several M&Ms (or Skittles in Caleb's case) for their efforts. This new initiative has made Grace think about the benefits of pooping on the potty, but so far she hasn't cracked, LOL. So we'll see how much longer it takes for her to go potty on a big potty, and to poop in her little potty. I will keep you updated!
Basically, since she is still having so much trouble with pooping on the little potty, I'm just not going to worry about the whole thing right now. I'll put her in pull-ups if she wants that (which she usually does), and then she will most often go potty on her own, but I'm just not going to worry about the pooping thing. Cleaning up a poopy pull-up is not much worse than changing a poopy diaper, and it's a whole lot better than cleaning up poopy underwear (which I have done my fair share of over the past weeks!). I figure we'll revisit the whole underwear thing in a few weeks. In the meantime, whenever ANYONE in the house goes poopy on the potty, they must come out and announce it in a magnificent manner, while everyone else goes wild with cheering. Then the lucky big girl or boy receives several M&Ms (or Skittles in Caleb's case) for their efforts. This new initiative has made Grace think about the benefits of pooping on the potty, but so far she hasn't cracked, LOL. So we'll see how much longer it takes for her to go potty on a big potty, and to poop in her little potty. I will keep you updated!
Another week, another update . . .
Wow, it's been over a week since I last posted! I guess I'm on the 'once a week" plan now. Where does the time go?! Last week was a usual week, with the only bit of drama being a somewhat mild bug going around the house. People are snuffly and coughing (Nathan, Luke, Jonathan, Anna, and Faith), but nothing too bad. Anna also has been running a fever the last 2 days, but only at night after she goes to bed. She's fine during the day, but when I go in to take her potty before I go to bed, around 11:15, I discover that not only is she hot and feverish, she has also wet the bed! This has happened the last 2 nights, so tonight I finally was wise and put her in a pull-up. It's so out-of-character for her that I am sure the sickness is to blame.
The girls and I stayed home from church today, which I think was a wise move. Our church had its annual church picnic at a local park this afternoon, and we decided we would all still go to that, since we figured there would be less chance of passing anything along outside, as opposed to in a nursery setting. The weather was so gorgeous--low 70's and sunny--so it was a perfect day for a picnic! It was a lot of fun, and I'm glad we all went. I got to visit with a lot of people, the boys played all manner of games (football, baseball, volleyball, etc.), and the girls mainly hung out around me and ate a lot of desserts, LOL. We took 2 vans, so I brought them back around 5:00. On the way home, Anna was very whiny, and almost as soon as we walked in the door, she fell asleep on the couch. When she woke up a little while later, it was obvious her fever had come back up, and she was very, very snuffly, so in hindsight it probably was not good to spend the whole afternoon outside at the picnic. Oh well. Motrin and a bath restored her good temper, and all 3 girls were in bed by 7:45. Hopefully a good night's sleep will help her kick this bug.
Bob has tomorrow off. We're hoping the good weather holds, because he has several outside things he would like to accomplish. I'm thinking we may just take the whole week off of school, except for the 2 co-ops, because on Thursday we have a donation pick-up scheduled, and I really want to finish up some decluttering I've been working on. Some cleaning would be nice too. So now you know what we'll be doing when you don't hear from me for another week!
The girls and I stayed home from church today, which I think was a wise move. Our church had its annual church picnic at a local park this afternoon, and we decided we would all still go to that, since we figured there would be less chance of passing anything along outside, as opposed to in a nursery setting. The weather was so gorgeous--low 70's and sunny--so it was a perfect day for a picnic! It was a lot of fun, and I'm glad we all went. I got to visit with a lot of people, the boys played all manner of games (football, baseball, volleyball, etc.), and the girls mainly hung out around me and ate a lot of desserts, LOL. We took 2 vans, so I brought them back around 5:00. On the way home, Anna was very whiny, and almost as soon as we walked in the door, she fell asleep on the couch. When she woke up a little while later, it was obvious her fever had come back up, and she was very, very snuffly, so in hindsight it probably was not good to spend the whole afternoon outside at the picnic. Oh well. Motrin and a bath restored her good temper, and all 3 girls were in bed by 7:45. Hopefully a good night's sleep will help her kick this bug.
Bob has tomorrow off. We're hoping the good weather holds, because he has several outside things he would like to accomplish. I'm thinking we may just take the whole week off of school, except for the 2 co-ops, because on Thursday we have a donation pick-up scheduled, and I really want to finish up some decluttering I've been working on. Some cleaning would be nice too. So now you know what we'll be doing when you don't hear from me for another week!
Friday, October 02, 2009
Week in Review
1. Tomorrow Caleb and Jonathan have another soccer game at 9:00. Bob is the coach of their team, so at least they will go. Last week they were supposed to have their team pictures taken before the game--at 6:45 A.M.! Well, that's when they were supposed to be there; the pictures were to be taken at 7:00. I wondered how this would work, since it's still dark here at 7:00. Bob pitched the idea to the team that, seeing as how we are living in this digital age, he just take pictures of everyone on our camera, make discs, and then people can get their own prints, buttons, magnets, whatever, at reasonable prices from Sams or Snapfish or wherever, as opposed to the outrageous ones charged by those sports photo businesses. That was a winner of an idea, so they did that at the civilized hour of 8:45, and he handed out the discs at practice on Thursday. We had gotten an email from the league saying they were having a make-up picture day during practice next Thursday night for those teams that couldn't get their pictures done. One of the other team moms heard someone on another team say their pictures hadn't turned out at all because--get this--it was too dark, so they needed to retake them. Yeah, I know--it's hard to see that coming, what with all the uncertainty of when the sun rises each day and whatnot. Anyhow, we were feeling good about that.
2. It was our turn to do the family presentation at the beginning of Classical Conversations on Thursday. We're supposed to do something relating to one of the 8 history timeline cards we memorize each week, so we chose to do a Greek myth, which related to the card "Homer and Greek Mythology". We did "Theseus and the Minotaur", which was very well-received. Nathan was our brave hero Theseus, Caleb was King Aegeus, the king of Athens, Jonathan was an unnamed Athenian sailing to Minos to be a victim of the Minotaur along with Theseus, Anna was Ariadne, King Minos' beautiful daughter who gave Theseus the golden spool of magical thread, and Luke was the Minotaur. We had to get a monster mask from the dollar store from him. Since it had crossed eyes, it was more goofy than scary, so it was perfect.
3. Bob was driving the big van to work on Thursday so that he could pick up the running boards he ordered over lunch. At a stop light, he got rear-ended! I know--it's so hard to see the tiny Ford 350 van. Turn it sideways, and you can hardly tell it's there! LOL! The lady actually told Bob she was late to work, in a hurry, and she looked down for "just a second"! All the things your insurance tells you not to say. Her license plate (in vanity plate-happy VA) was "XLER3". I guess someone took the 8 before she could get there, LOL. There's not too much damage to the big van, although now our backups sensor lights don't work, so there's no beeping when you get close to things. I liked that. This is actually the second time this year Bob has gotten rear-ended. Lucky him!
4. I've been gradually working on potty-training Grace, and she's been doing well. The only fly in the ointment has been that we are gone Tuesdays and Thursdays for co-ops, so there isn't a long chunk of days where we don't go anywhere to really cement everything. Instead, shell do well in underwear for one day, then I'll put her back in a diaper for CC or whatever, and she'll happily go in there. and she's definitely not at the point where she would tell someone else she needs to go. I still have to remind her often to go, or she will have an accident. Today was not a good day, however. She pooped in her panties not long after she got up, she had a pee accident before lunch, and after lunch she pooped in her panties again! What in the world was that all about?! We don't have our Tuesday co-op the day after Columbus Day, so I'm hoping that week will be the week where it all comes together for her. And I'm hoping the pooping thing does not become an issue! (Maybe she and Emily talked about it, Melinda?!)
5. I had mentioned back in July that one thing that made selling our house and PCSing attractive was this military homeowners' assistance program that was in the stimulus package. it was supposed to pay the military person back 90% of the difference between what they bought the house at and what they could sell it for. In an area like ours, that is a significant amount. But then we never heard anything official, and in fact, stuff had even been taken off the official website talking about the program at all! We thought, that's not a good sign . . . . Moving was a lot less attractive. But then yesterday we got a phone call from a friend in CO and an email from E out here saying that things are a go, and it's about to get officially entered in the congressional register. Right now, the deal is for people who have orders by Dec. 09, with a report date no later than 28 Feb. 10, but they could extend that up to 2012 if there are sufficient funds. Hmmm. So we're back to leaning towards going. We haven't actually heard anything from the guy at Andersen (Guam) or the AFPC guy, so we were wondering what was going on, but Bob has been busy, so he hasn't called them either. I told that to Carolyn, the one with 7 kids that is over there already, and she said her husband had been given a request for him to be our sponsor, so she had assumed Bob had gotten the job! How funny that she knows more than we do! Please keep praying that we make the right decisions here, and that the Lord will make His will very clear for us.
Well, that's where we're at! I hope you all had a good week too!
2. It was our turn to do the family presentation at the beginning of Classical Conversations on Thursday. We're supposed to do something relating to one of the 8 history timeline cards we memorize each week, so we chose to do a Greek myth, which related to the card "Homer and Greek Mythology". We did "Theseus and the Minotaur", which was very well-received. Nathan was our brave hero Theseus, Caleb was King Aegeus, the king of Athens, Jonathan was an unnamed Athenian sailing to Minos to be a victim of the Minotaur along with Theseus, Anna was Ariadne, King Minos' beautiful daughter who gave Theseus the golden spool of magical thread, and Luke was the Minotaur. We had to get a monster mask from the dollar store from him. Since it had crossed eyes, it was more goofy than scary, so it was perfect.
3. Bob was driving the big van to work on Thursday so that he could pick up the running boards he ordered over lunch. At a stop light, he got rear-ended! I know--it's so hard to see the tiny Ford 350 van. Turn it sideways, and you can hardly tell it's there! LOL! The lady actually told Bob she was late to work, in a hurry, and she looked down for "just a second"! All the things your insurance tells you not to say. Her license plate (in vanity plate-happy VA) was "XLER3". I guess someone took the 8 before she could get there, LOL. There's not too much damage to the big van, although now our backups sensor lights don't work, so there's no beeping when you get close to things. I liked that. This is actually the second time this year Bob has gotten rear-ended. Lucky him!
4. I've been gradually working on potty-training Grace, and she's been doing well. The only fly in the ointment has been that we are gone Tuesdays and Thursdays for co-ops, so there isn't a long chunk of days where we don't go anywhere to really cement everything. Instead, shell do well in underwear for one day, then I'll put her back in a diaper for CC or whatever, and she'll happily go in there. and she's definitely not at the point where she would tell someone else she needs to go. I still have to remind her often to go, or she will have an accident. Today was not a good day, however. She pooped in her panties not long after she got up, she had a pee accident before lunch, and after lunch she pooped in her panties again! What in the world was that all about?! We don't have our Tuesday co-op the day after Columbus Day, so I'm hoping that week will be the week where it all comes together for her. And I'm hoping the pooping thing does not become an issue! (Maybe she and Emily talked about it, Melinda?!)
5. I had mentioned back in July that one thing that made selling our house and PCSing attractive was this military homeowners' assistance program that was in the stimulus package. it was supposed to pay the military person back 90% of the difference between what they bought the house at and what they could sell it for. In an area like ours, that is a significant amount. But then we never heard anything official, and in fact, stuff had even been taken off the official website talking about the program at all! We thought, that's not a good sign . . . . Moving was a lot less attractive. But then yesterday we got a phone call from a friend in CO and an email from E out here saying that things are a go, and it's about to get officially entered in the congressional register. Right now, the deal is for people who have orders by Dec. 09, with a report date no later than 28 Feb. 10, but they could extend that up to 2012 if there are sufficient funds. Hmmm. So we're back to leaning towards going. We haven't actually heard anything from the guy at Andersen (Guam) or the AFPC guy, so we were wondering what was going on, but Bob has been busy, so he hasn't called them either. I told that to Carolyn, the one with 7 kids that is over there already, and she said her husband had been given a request for him to be our sponsor, so she had assumed Bob had gotten the job! How funny that she knows more than we do! Please keep praying that we make the right decisions here, and that the Lord will make His will very clear for us.
Well, that's where we're at! I hope you all had a good week too!
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Another Haircut For Anna
Back in June, when we were in Ohio, my mom and I took Anna to get her first real haircut. The lady was nice, and Anna did great, but she really just trimmed the hair. I had kind of hoped for something shorter, but I am not good at articulating what I think to hair people, so whatever . . . it was fine.
As time has passed, her hair has gotten scraggly again. It would lay okay if we used a lot of conditioner, but when she takes showers, she doesn't use any, so it just always looks scruffy. Here is a picture from when we were hiking while camping at Greentop. It doesn't actually llook too bad here, so you'll just have to trust me that it would be messy! Nevertheless, it needed to be cut again.
At church last Sunday, Anna's little friend Elya had the cutest haircut! She looked so adorable, and I asked her mom, May, where she had gotten it done. May told me that she had done it herself using a bowl! We had our small group meeting Sunday at our house, so I asked May to bring the bowl so she could give me some pointers! It turns out that Elya's head is a lot smaller than Anna's, so we hunted around and found another bowl. Before I lost my nerve, we went out on the deck, and I proceeded to give Anna her haircut with May holding the bowl!
Anna held so still! Everyone was impressed! It was a bit tricky, moving the bowl around, but it turned out just fine.
Here May is doing the final trim. Well, actually May told me that she followed Elya around for 3 days with scissors, doing little trims here and there, and I actually did that as well! Not 3 days, but definitely yesterday I was trimming away at odd moments!
Here is the finished product, although her hair is still a little bit wet, so I don't think you get a true representation of her new, shorter look.
Here is a more natural picture from yesterday. Doesn't Anna look cute?! Grace actually got a tiny trim as well, but you can't really even tell a difference, LOL.
As time has passed, her hair has gotten scraggly again. It would lay okay if we used a lot of conditioner, but when she takes showers, she doesn't use any, so it just always looks scruffy. Here is a picture from when we were hiking while camping at Greentop. It doesn't actually llook too bad here, so you'll just have to trust me that it would be messy! Nevertheless, it needed to be cut again.
At church last Sunday, Anna's little friend Elya had the cutest haircut! She looked so adorable, and I asked her mom, May, where she had gotten it done. May told me that she had done it herself using a bowl! We had our small group meeting Sunday at our house, so I asked May to bring the bowl so she could give me some pointers! It turns out that Elya's head is a lot smaller than Anna's, so we hunted around and found another bowl. Before I lost my nerve, we went out on the deck, and I proceeded to give Anna her haircut with May holding the bowl!
Anna held so still! Everyone was impressed! It was a bit tricky, moving the bowl around, but it turned out just fine.
Here May is doing the final trim. Well, actually May told me that she followed Elya around for 3 days with scissors, doing little trims here and there, and I actually did that as well! Not 3 days, but definitely yesterday I was trimming away at odd moments!
Here is the finished product, although her hair is still a little bit wet, so I don't think you get a true representation of her new, shorter look.
Here is a more natural picture from yesterday. Doesn't Anna look cute?! Grace actually got a tiny trim as well, but you can't really even tell a difference, LOL. I've always been very intimidated to cut girls' hair, but maybe now with my new bowl trick up my sleeve, I can at least cut their hair for the first few years. And with the slow rate my girls' hair grows, I shouldn't even need to do it very often!
Friday, September 25, 2009
Colonial Williamsburg
Tuesday afternoon after Nathan's writing co-op, we packed up the van and headed down to Richmond. We got to Bob's sister's house after dinner, and our niece Christi was even there to visit for a little while too! The next morning we were up and out of there by 9:00. This may not seem like very early to you, but believe me, for us it is a very good time, LOL. We got to Williamsburg by 10:30, and we picked up our tickets at the visitors' center, which was very nice. Colonial Williamsburg is having "Homeschool Days' right now, from Sept. 12-Sept. 27, and the deal is amazing. If you preregistered, which I did, the ticket prices were $5.50 for an adult and something like $3 or $4 for kids ages 6-12. I think we paid $36 for all 11 of us to go. Normally the ticket prices are almost $40 a day per adult!! The ticket included everything too--the movie at the visitors' center, which was very well-done, and a wonderful introduction to everything, the tour of the governor's palace, riding on the bus (which we never did due to all our stuff, LOL), the special activities . . . It was truly an amazing deal.
After watching the movie in the visitors' center, we walked over to the main village part, and we ate our picnic lunch. Then we took the tour of the governor's palace, since we were right by it.
While they were reading the declation, there were 2 patriots on horseback that rode up right next to our stroller. I didn't think Faith would mind too much, but I fully expected Anna and Grace to be terrified. After all, they are petrified of dogs and cats, and horses are so huge, right? Wrong. They were fascinated by the horse. No tears or screams of fright at all. Just when you think you have your kids figured out . . .
After the Declaration, Bob, Faith, Ann, Wally, and Grace took a tour of the House of Burgess. The boys did not want to do any more tours, especially one that was half and hour, but it was a hot day, and Bob was lured in by the promise of air conditioning. The boys, Anna, and I laid on the grass for a few minutes, and then we meandered down the street, watching ladies make baskets, and visiting the wig maker's shop. Eventually we just sat on a bench and waited. We were surprised to see Bob and Faith come down the street, but not anyone else. It turns out that Faith got them kicked out of the tour! She was squawky again, although Bob said she was not actually as loud as she had been at the governor's palace! There was a toddler who was running around all out of control, and the tour guide told the mom not to let the boy run around, but he just kicked out Bob and Faith! We decided Williamsburg is not really the most baby-friendly place around. I think these tour guides maybe take themselves just a LITTLE bit too seriously!
After we all regathered, Nathan was so ready to go. He was quite whiney--good thing he didn't try to take the tour, LOL. Here is the obligatory picture in the stocks, where he is actually just making a face. He really didn't look like this, evn when whining about how hot and tired he was! Bob and I had heard there was going to be a military review in the green behind the courthouse at 5:00, and it was about 4:45, so we were trying to stall so we could at least see a little bit of that before we left. Some people went inside the courthouse for a few minutes, and some of us watched the shoemaker, which was quite interesting. Finally the review started. Actually, the fife and drum corps, plus the militia, marched down the street from the courthouse, with all the tourists around them and following them. We were in front of them, watching it all, and it looked like the last scene in the Music Man where the whole town is marching alongside the band. It was funny.
On the green, the militia did some moving around, and then they loaded and fired off their muskets several times! The boys were not expecting them to do that, so that perked everyone up, even Nathan. Anna was not a fan of the loud noise, so she clapped her hands over her ears and tightly screwed her eyes shut for pretty much the remainder of the time, LOL. The militia then charged the flag. They charged on "Huzzah", which the boys all got a kick out of. "That would be like charging on 'Hooray'!" Then, as a grand finale, they fired the cannon off 3 times! That was very exciting! Everyone was glad we stayed for that after all. As we were walking out, a nice lady took a group picture of us all in front of the governor's palace.
Then we all had a very delicious dinner at Cracker Barrel before driving back home. It was a fun day, and we were so glad to spend it with Ann and Wally! We got back late, and I had to stay up even later to finish preparing for Classical Conversations. We were all so tired the next day!
After watching the movie in the visitors' center, we walked over to the main village part, and we ate our picnic lunch. Then we took the tour of the governor's palace, since we were right by it.
When you walk in, the entry area is quite large, with a very high ceiling. The walls on all sides have weapons up and down them--swords, muskets, pistols, more swords. You can probably imagine how impressed the boys were by this. "It's like they wall-papered the walls with SWORDS!" It really was quite impressive.
By the end of the tour, Faith was getting very tired and squawky. We were in this huge ballroom, and Bob and I were at one end, juggling her around, bouncing her up and down, trying to keep her quiet, while the tour guide was at the other end giving his spiel. He was not impressed withour efforts, and when someone asked some question, he replied rather testily that he couldn't think clearly because of all the noise. Geesh! It was only Faith who was making any noise at all! Everyone else was at the other end of the ballroom, quiet as mice! We decided he didn't have much experience with real noise, LOL.
Next we headed over to the other side of the village, to one of the museums. They were having a special thing for kids called "Cracking the Code". It was about the codes used in the Revolutionary War. The boys enjoyed this, although Nathan said he had read a book called, George Washington, Spymaster, and all their information was from there, so he already knew all the codes. While they were in there, I enjoyed looked around the building where you enter the museum. It was a public hospital for the insane, begun back in the late 1700's, and they had a fascinating exhibit about how they used to treat insane people (like prisoners, really, in cells and everything) back then, and some of the equipment and practices used over time. Very interesting.
Then we headed back to the center part of the town, where most of the shops are, and we stopped at a few of them along the way. Williamsburg does this thing starting at 3:00 called "Revolutionary City", where the tourists are sort of bystanders to the drama of the time. Actors (with mics so you can hear them) do these little vignettes on the street about the hardships of the time, trying to convince people to support unification with the other colonies, introducing Benedict Arnold, etc. They also do a reading of the Declaration of Independence from the balcony of the House of Burgess, as if it had just been printed off and received here in Virginia. It was very moving!
While they were reading the declation, there were 2 patriots on horseback that rode up right next to our stroller. I didn't think Faith would mind too much, but I fully expected Anna and Grace to be terrified. After all, they are petrified of dogs and cats, and horses are so huge, right? Wrong. They were fascinated by the horse. No tears or screams of fright at all. Just when you think you have your kids figured out . . .
After the Declaration, Bob, Faith, Ann, Wally, and Grace took a tour of the House of Burgess. The boys did not want to do any more tours, especially one that was half and hour, but it was a hot day, and Bob was lured in by the promise of air conditioning. The boys, Anna, and I laid on the grass for a few minutes, and then we meandered down the street, watching ladies make baskets, and visiting the wig maker's shop. Eventually we just sat on a bench and waited. We were surprised to see Bob and Faith come down the street, but not anyone else. It turns out that Faith got them kicked out of the tour! She was squawky again, although Bob said she was not actually as loud as she had been at the governor's palace! There was a toddler who was running around all out of control, and the tour guide told the mom not to let the boy run around, but he just kicked out Bob and Faith! We decided Williamsburg is not really the most baby-friendly place around. I think these tour guides maybe take themselves just a LITTLE bit too seriously!
After we all regathered, Nathan was so ready to go. He was quite whiney--good thing he didn't try to take the tour, LOL. Here is the obligatory picture in the stocks, where he is actually just making a face. He really didn't look like this, evn when whining about how hot and tired he was! Bob and I had heard there was going to be a military review in the green behind the courthouse at 5:00, and it was about 4:45, so we were trying to stall so we could at least see a little bit of that before we left. Some people went inside the courthouse for a few minutes, and some of us watched the shoemaker, which was quite interesting. Finally the review started. Actually, the fife and drum corps, plus the militia, marched down the street from the courthouse, with all the tourists around them and following them. We were in front of them, watching it all, and it looked like the last scene in the Music Man where the whole town is marching alongside the band. It was funny. On the green, the militia did some moving around, and then they loaded and fired off their muskets several times! The boys were not expecting them to do that, so that perked everyone up, even Nathan. Anna was not a fan of the loud noise, so she clapped her hands over her ears and tightly screwed her eyes shut for pretty much the remainder of the time, LOL. The militia then charged the flag. They charged on "Huzzah", which the boys all got a kick out of. "That would be like charging on 'Hooray'!" Then, as a grand finale, they fired the cannon off 3 times! That was very exciting! Everyone was glad we stayed for that after all. As we were walking out, a nice lady took a group picture of us all in front of the governor's palace.
Then we all had a very delicious dinner at Cracker Barrel before driving back home. It was a fun day, and we were so glad to spend it with Ann and Wally! We got back late, and I had to stay up even later to finish preparing for Classical Conversations. We were all so tired the next day!Saturday, September 19, 2009
Pulmonologist
When I started typing the post last night, I actually had a point, but I rambled on and forgot all about it. The reason I was so tired was actually what I had MEANT to write about. We left to drive to Bethesda yesterday morning at 9:45, and we got back home after 2:00.
Let me back up a bit before I actually talk about the appointment. Caleb (almost 8) is our one child with food allergies (milk, peanuts, walnuts, and pecans) and asthma. He has been taking Singulair since he was almost 1, and he also takes Flonase and Zyrtec. He has Albuterol and Flovent for his puffer, but he only uses that when he is wheezing, and he has hardly needed that the past year. He basically has 2 bad seasons (he has a lot of seasonal and environmental allergies)--March through May, and August through the first frost. His wheezing has been very well-controlled these past few years, and he really has hardly used his puffer. He did have one incident on New Year's Day where we had to take him to the ER because he couldn't breathe, but they decided he had pneumonia and put him on antibiotics as well as doing breathing treatments.
Over the past year, however, I have noticed some alarming personality changes in Caleb. He has always been such a happy little boy, and he has just become so very whiny and emotionally fragile. Everything has become a big deal, with lots of tears and drama. Also, he has just lost some zest for life or something. Everything is "blah". He is rarely as enthusiastic about anything like he used to be. It's not that he has a bad attitude neccessarily; it's more that he's just not excited about it. He's not depressed or anything, but I would describe him as glum, more and more. Also, he ahs had some physical complaints--his tummy hurts sometimes, and some mornings he complains about how his muscles hurt and are shaky. It's weird, and it doesn't seem to be a low blood sugar thing.
My best friend Amy's son also has allergies and has taken Singulair for a long time. This past year she also had some similar concerns about her son's behavior and personality, as well as some physical problems, and after doing some research, she took him off Singulair. His symptoms have dramatically improved. I did some reading as well, and there was a thread on the Well-Trained Mind Board dealing with people whose children had problems with Singulair. So I had been thinking that I would take Caleb off it maybe in October. I made an appointment back in June I think to try to get a referral to the allergy clinic, since it's been over a year since he's been seen there, but the doctor I saw didn't think I needed one, and he blew off my concerns about the Singulair. I was going to make an appointment with another doctor, but then we got busy traveling, having company, traveling some more, etc. . . . and it never happened.
Imagine my surprise when a few weeks ago someone from Bethesda called to schedule an appointment for Caleb to be seen to check his lung function! The appointment was yesterday, and it started with him blowing into various tubes and machines, something he has never done, even though he's been diagnosed with asthma since he was maybe 2. The guy running the test told us his lung function was very good, and he also gave us a new spacer and told us that Caleb should always use it, even as an adult, because when you spray an inhaler directly into your mouth, it goes into a lot of surrounding tissues, but not as much gets breathed into your lungs. Interesting!
Then we got to see the doctor, an actual pulmonologist. She spent a very long time with us, asking a lot of detailed questions. It turns out that when Caleb went to the ER on New Year's Day, the doctor put in his records that he wasn't sure if his symptoms were all caused by pneumonia, or if his asthma had contributed, so that had gotten him red-flagged to be put on this special asthma list and be checked up on now. She said that it was unclear whether Caleb had "intermittent" asthma, or if he had "persistant" asthma that was just very well-controlled, since he has never been off his medicine. She wants me to try taking him off his meds in November, and then come back in to see her so she can test his lung function and see what is actually happening in there without anything.
I told her all my concerns about Singulair. She told me that the studies have not found any relationship between Singulair and suicide, and that most people reporting side effects like personality changes have reported them after a short period of time on the drug. But she said that there really jsut hasn't been enough studies done, and if I have noticed stuff, then it is a good idea to see what happens off the meds. Also, she said that Singulair is no longer the first-line drug recommended for persistent asthma. Most kids take an inhaled steroid like Flovent daily, which Caleb has never done. I asked her about the side effects of steroids, and she said that they were less than with Singulair, and very rare. So if he still needs something, then maybe we'll go with Flovent instead of Singulair.
So it was a very good appointment, and she was so nice and helpful. She also said that if we did move to Guam, she would make sure we have a 3-month supply of all his medicines to bridge the gap of getting over there and getting settled in before having to see a doctor there for new prescriptions. Wow, it's so amazing when the Lord just works out something like this for us! I still can't believe Bethesda called US to make this appointment! An answer to prayer--at Bible study last night, I was flipping through my little prayer request notebook, and I noticed I had asked for prayer for wisdom about what to do for Caleb on August 21, about a week before she called!
Let me back up a bit before I actually talk about the appointment. Caleb (almost 8) is our one child with food allergies (milk, peanuts, walnuts, and pecans) and asthma. He has been taking Singulair since he was almost 1, and he also takes Flonase and Zyrtec. He has Albuterol and Flovent for his puffer, but he only uses that when he is wheezing, and he has hardly needed that the past year. He basically has 2 bad seasons (he has a lot of seasonal and environmental allergies)--March through May, and August through the first frost. His wheezing has been very well-controlled these past few years, and he really has hardly used his puffer. He did have one incident on New Year's Day where we had to take him to the ER because he couldn't breathe, but they decided he had pneumonia and put him on antibiotics as well as doing breathing treatments.
Over the past year, however, I have noticed some alarming personality changes in Caleb. He has always been such a happy little boy, and he has just become so very whiny and emotionally fragile. Everything has become a big deal, with lots of tears and drama. Also, he has just lost some zest for life or something. Everything is "blah". He is rarely as enthusiastic about anything like he used to be. It's not that he has a bad attitude neccessarily; it's more that he's just not excited about it. He's not depressed or anything, but I would describe him as glum, more and more. Also, he ahs had some physical complaints--his tummy hurts sometimes, and some mornings he complains about how his muscles hurt and are shaky. It's weird, and it doesn't seem to be a low blood sugar thing.
My best friend Amy's son also has allergies and has taken Singulair for a long time. This past year she also had some similar concerns about her son's behavior and personality, as well as some physical problems, and after doing some research, she took him off Singulair. His symptoms have dramatically improved. I did some reading as well, and there was a thread on the Well-Trained Mind Board dealing with people whose children had problems with Singulair. So I had been thinking that I would take Caleb off it maybe in October. I made an appointment back in June I think to try to get a referral to the allergy clinic, since it's been over a year since he's been seen there, but the doctor I saw didn't think I needed one, and he blew off my concerns about the Singulair. I was going to make an appointment with another doctor, but then we got busy traveling, having company, traveling some more, etc. . . . and it never happened.
Imagine my surprise when a few weeks ago someone from Bethesda called to schedule an appointment for Caleb to be seen to check his lung function! The appointment was yesterday, and it started with him blowing into various tubes and machines, something he has never done, even though he's been diagnosed with asthma since he was maybe 2. The guy running the test told us his lung function was very good, and he also gave us a new spacer and told us that Caleb should always use it, even as an adult, because when you spray an inhaler directly into your mouth, it goes into a lot of surrounding tissues, but not as much gets breathed into your lungs. Interesting!
Then we got to see the doctor, an actual pulmonologist. She spent a very long time with us, asking a lot of detailed questions. It turns out that when Caleb went to the ER on New Year's Day, the doctor put in his records that he wasn't sure if his symptoms were all caused by pneumonia, or if his asthma had contributed, so that had gotten him red-flagged to be put on this special asthma list and be checked up on now. She said that it was unclear whether Caleb had "intermittent" asthma, or if he had "persistant" asthma that was just very well-controlled, since he has never been off his medicine. She wants me to try taking him off his meds in November, and then come back in to see her so she can test his lung function and see what is actually happening in there without anything.
I told her all my concerns about Singulair. She told me that the studies have not found any relationship between Singulair and suicide, and that most people reporting side effects like personality changes have reported them after a short period of time on the drug. But she said that there really jsut hasn't been enough studies done, and if I have noticed stuff, then it is a good idea to see what happens off the meds. Also, she said that Singulair is no longer the first-line drug recommended for persistent asthma. Most kids take an inhaled steroid like Flovent daily, which Caleb has never done. I asked her about the side effects of steroids, and she said that they were less than with Singulair, and very rare. So if he still needs something, then maybe we'll go with Flovent instead of Singulair.
So it was a very good appointment, and she was so nice and helpful. She also said that if we did move to Guam, she would make sure we have a 3-month supply of all his medicines to bridge the gap of getting over there and getting settled in before having to see a doctor there for new prescriptions. Wow, it's so amazing when the Lord just works out something like this for us! I still can't believe Bethesda called US to make this appointment! An answer to prayer--at Bible study last night, I was flipping through my little prayer request notebook, and I noticed I had asked for prayer for wisdom about what to do for Caleb on August 21, about a week before she called!
Friday, September 18, 2009
Catching My Breath . . .
We're not going anywhere this weekend! I didn't have to pack suitcases for anyone! Or find any odd, random items that are rarely used but are definitely needed for the weekend! Actually, for the trip last weekend, I let the boys pack for themselves, having told them exactly how much of everything they needed. And they all put their own stuff in their own duffle bag. Nathan and Luke are old pros at this, having packed for themselves to go to Camp Caleb for a few years now. But even Caleb and Jonathan are not novices at traveling, and usually I tell them what to bring to me, even if I do the actual packing, so they should be well familiar with the packing procedure.
Well, when all the duffle bags were brought downstairs Friday, Luke mentioned that Jonathan's bag looked awfully empty, and I made a mental note to check it. That mental note promptly flew out my other ear, and I didn't even glance at his bag again. As we were well on our way, Jonathan piped up in the back to tell us that he had not packed any underwear, but not to worry--he WAS wearing a pair. Whew! LOL He also neglected to pack a second pair of pants, which I had specifically told him about, so he was a bit chilly when his jeans got wet on Saturday. So obviously a little more supervision is needed on his end, at least. Everyone else did just fine.
One thing I have realized as we have gotten back into our school routine, is that doing 2 co-ops with everyone is definitely more tiring. Classical Conversations is going very well. I really enjoy my class, and I think all the boys are learning a lot and having a lot of fun. But it is hard to get out 2 mornings a week, and preparing for CC is another thing taking up my time, although I do enjoy it! Plus, Nathan has his writing co-op Tuesday afternoons, and Luke's is on Thursday afternoons, so that is more business. Those will both end up being only every other week, though, so I guess that will help. The point is, the weeks are flying by, and I constantly feel like I am behind on cleaning, laundry, etc. (and I constantly feel that way because in fact I AM behind, LOL). Going away every weekend has not helped that either. Even typing a blog post has just become too much most afternoons and evenings! Hopefully things will settle down into more of a rhythm.
Well, when all the duffle bags were brought downstairs Friday, Luke mentioned that Jonathan's bag looked awfully empty, and I made a mental note to check it. That mental note promptly flew out my other ear, and I didn't even glance at his bag again. As we were well on our way, Jonathan piped up in the back to tell us that he had not packed any underwear, but not to worry--he WAS wearing a pair. Whew! LOL He also neglected to pack a second pair of pants, which I had specifically told him about, so he was a bit chilly when his jeans got wet on Saturday. So obviously a little more supervision is needed on his end, at least. Everyone else did just fine.
One thing I have realized as we have gotten back into our school routine, is that doing 2 co-ops with everyone is definitely more tiring. Classical Conversations is going very well. I really enjoy my class, and I think all the boys are learning a lot and having a lot of fun. But it is hard to get out 2 mornings a week, and preparing for CC is another thing taking up my time, although I do enjoy it! Plus, Nathan has his writing co-op Tuesday afternoons, and Luke's is on Thursday afternoons, so that is more business. Those will both end up being only every other week, though, so I guess that will help. The point is, the weeks are flying by, and I constantly feel like I am behind on cleaning, laundry, etc. (and I constantly feel that way because in fact I AM behind, LOL). Going away every weekend has not helped that either. Even typing a blog post has just become too much most afternoons and evenings! Hopefully things will settle down into more of a rhythm.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Greentop Weekend
This weekend we went camping with a bunch of other big homeschooling families from our co-op, and from the church that hosts the co-op. It was so much fun! We were all so tired (and dirty) yesterday when we got home! We went to a place called Camp Greentop , in Maryland not too far from us. It is part of Catoctin Mountain Park, but I thought the most interesting thing is that Greentop is practically across a small road from Camp David! We passed the turn-off for Camp David ("Do not enter. Not open to the public. Violaters will be fined . . . "), which is also surrounded by a big electric fence in case you are just innocently hiking along, LOL.
Actually, that is not the only interesting thing about the camp. It has a unique history as well. Here's some of what the website says:
Camp Greentop was built in 1937 as part of the Catoctin Recreational Demonstration Area and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a Historic District. Although the original concept called for a camp almost identical to Camp Misty Mount, plans were modified to meet the needs of its first tenants, the Baltimore League for Crippled Children. Thus, Camp Greentop became one of the nation's first camps specifically constructed to meet the needs of the handicapped. The American Chestnut cabins, built by the Works Progess Administration, and the surrounding area look much as they did in 1937. The Baltimore League for Crippled Children, now known as the League for People with Disabilities, Inc., has returned to Camp Greentop for over 70 years, their tenure interrupted only by the military occupation of the camp during World War II.
Here is the dining area and conference room, which the kids used as a huge indoor playroom, especially on Saturday, when the weather was rainy off and on. Several kids had brought "rip sticks" and "wave boards", which are new-fangled skateboard-y things that the boys had a lot of fun learning to ride on. The dining room had a ton of huge tables, and a large commercial kitchen. In front of this complex, there is a big field and also a swimming pool and basketball court.
Here is our cabin, which had beds for 10. Since it was built for disabled people, there were no upper bunks, which is nice for little kids. When you walk into the cabin, you are in a entry room, and then there are 2 rooms with 4 beds each on either side, and a leader's room with 2 beds and a door straight ahead. We let Faith sleep in there, since we could close the door, but the walls did not go all the way up to the rafters, so it was still louder in there! She was so tired that she still napped and slept fairly well. Since the camp is for disabled kids in the summer, there are ramps up to all cabins, and paved walking paths connecting the buildings, which was nice for the stroller. It was so beautiful!
It poured down rain Friday night, but Saturday dawned foggy and cool and misty, but not with drenching rain. We all went on a 1.4 hike to Cunningham Falls. Bob carried Faith in the backpack, and the girls walked. We fell off the pace almost immediately, LOL, but they were real troopers and made it the whole way. People were so surprised when we showed up at the Falls after they had all been there for awhile! Obviously the boys were in the front group, so when we got there, they had climbed up on the rocks around the Falls and were having a great time. Craig McC was up there with them, so we didn't worry too much, LOL.
Here is a picture of Nathan, Luke, Jonathan, and Caleb . . . McC. Our Caleb had already headed back with another family. It's good to know that when we need a Caleb, there are others around to fill in!
Here are Christine and me. She is 35 weeks pregnant, so she was not enthusiastic about having her picture taken, but Bob appeased her by cutting us off at the tummy.
The only fly in the ointment this weekend was some mysterious stomach bug we seemed to have picked up last week. Thursday I noticed that Grace was having some diarrhea, which didn't make me wonder too much, other than making a note to bring the Desitin on the trip. When we got there Friday night and were eating dinner, she was not eating much, although she did drink a big cup of lemonade. I put a bite of lasagna in her mouth, but she never really swallowed it, so Bob picked her up and held out his hand for her to spit the bite into. She spit out the bite . . . and vomited all that lemonade out too, all over Bob's shirt! She didn't eat any more that night, but she didn't seem to have any more problems.
Actually, that is not the only interesting thing about the camp. It has a unique history as well. Here's some of what the website says:
Camp Greentop was built in 1937 as part of the Catoctin Recreational Demonstration Area and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a Historic District. Although the original concept called for a camp almost identical to Camp Misty Mount, plans were modified to meet the needs of its first tenants, the Baltimore League for Crippled Children. Thus, Camp Greentop became one of the nation's first camps specifically constructed to meet the needs of the handicapped. The American Chestnut cabins, built by the Works Progess Administration, and the surrounding area look much as they did in 1937. The Baltimore League for Crippled Children, now known as the League for People with Disabilities, Inc., has returned to Camp Greentop for over 70 years, their tenure interrupted only by the military occupation of the camp during World War II.
Here is the dining area and conference room, which the kids used as a huge indoor playroom, especially on Saturday, when the weather was rainy off and on. Several kids had brought "rip sticks" and "wave boards", which are new-fangled skateboard-y things that the boys had a lot of fun learning to ride on. The dining room had a ton of huge tables, and a large commercial kitchen. In front of this complex, there is a big field and also a swimming pool and basketball court.
Here is our cabin, which had beds for 10. Since it was built for disabled people, there were no upper bunks, which is nice for little kids. When you walk into the cabin, you are in a entry room, and then there are 2 rooms with 4 beds each on either side, and a leader's room with 2 beds and a door straight ahead. We let Faith sleep in there, since we could close the door, but the walls did not go all the way up to the rafters, so it was still louder in there! She was so tired that she still napped and slept fairly well. Since the camp is for disabled kids in the summer, there are ramps up to all cabins, and paved walking paths connecting the buildings, which was nice for the stroller. It was so beautiful!
It poured down rain Friday night, but Saturday dawned foggy and cool and misty, but not with drenching rain. We all went on a 1.4 hike to Cunningham Falls. Bob carried Faith in the backpack, and the girls walked. We fell off the pace almost immediately, LOL, but they were real troopers and made it the whole way. People were so surprised when we showed up at the Falls after they had all been there for awhile! Obviously the boys were in the front group, so when we got there, they had climbed up on the rocks around the Falls and were having a great time. Craig McC was up there with them, so we didn't worry too much, LOL. 
Here is a picture of Nathan, Luke, Jonathan, and Caleb . . . McC. Our Caleb had already headed back with another family. It's good to know that when we need a Caleb, there are others around to fill in!
Here are Christine and me. She is 35 weeks pregnant, so she was not enthusiastic about having her picture taken, but Bob appeased her by cutting us off at the tummy.
The only fly in the ointment this weekend was some mysterious stomach bug we seemed to have picked up last week. Thursday I noticed that Grace was having some diarrhea, which didn't make me wonder too much, other than making a note to bring the Desitin on the trip. When we got there Friday night and were eating dinner, she was not eating much, although she did drink a big cup of lemonade. I put a bite of lasagna in her mouth, but she never really swallowed it, so Bob picked her up and held out his hand for her to spit the bite into. She spit out the bite . . . and vomited all that lemonade out too, all over Bob's shirt! She didn't eat any more that night, but she didn't seem to have any more problems.Saturday morning, Anna woke up at 7:00, coughed twice, and threw up in her bed. Ack! Fortunately, there were washing machines we could use, so her bunny, sleeping bag, and pillow got washed. She seemed to feel fine, so we even went on the hike. She ate fairly normally the rest of the day. Every so often she would complain that her stomach wasn't feeling well, but the feeling would pass. She did, however, throw up again at midnight Saturday night which necessitated a second use of the washers! I was glad we didn't have to take stinky things back home to deal with! Her bunny and pillow have never been so clean, LOL. She has been fine since then, however. Luke and Jonathan have had a bit of queasiness, but nothing else, and everyone seems to be fine now. Two other kids also threw up on Saturday. Both kids were also in our Tuesday co-op and Classical Conversations on Thursday, so we all probably picked up the bug from the same place. Oh well.
It was a lot of fun being there with all these big families. Since a lot of them are in TNT with us, I knew the moms, but Bob had never met the husbands. Also, a lot of these big families have 7-10 kids, but only the youngest ones are still in TNT. It was neat to see some of these theoretical "older kids" that I've heard about but never seen! So it was a great weekend, but I must say that being gone 2 weekends in a row was a bit ambitious, even for super-packing me. I am so glad we're staying here next weekend!
Thursday, September 10, 2009
We're Alive . . .
I'm sure it must seem like we have dropped off the face of the earth! I am usually so much more regular with my blogging, but we have just been crazy busy around here. We got back from the yearly Wright-Patterson AFB OCF/Chapel retreat at White Sulphur Springs Monday night. We like to go up for that to see my parents, as well as old friends from our assignment there. They had a really fun group this time--almost 80 people! We had a great time! As soon as we got back, we had to get ready for the kick-off of our other homeschool co-op, the one we usually participate in. That was Tuesday. Then I had to get ready to tutor Classical Conversations, which was today. Tomorrow we are again leaving for the weekend. We're going "cabin-camping" with 18 other families up in Maryland--130 other people! The McC's are the ones who got us in on this, and they said it is so much fun. It's with a bunch of other families from our co-op (big families--can you tell by the numbers?!), and they are a very fun bunch! We are expecting to have a ball, but again, it's more packing, followed by a ton of very dirty laundry and unpacking on Monday! Whew! I'm pooped! We won't be going anywhere for the next several weeks . . . not until Sept. 22, when we are heading down south to go to Williamsburg during thier "Homeschooling Days". Actually, that's not all that far away . . . Anyhow, here are a few pictures from WSS.
The obligatory "wagon shot". I don't know how many family pictures we have had taken here! We're taking up more and more of the wagon though, LOL.
Eating breakfast with Grandma and Grandpa. The girls especially were so thrilled to have Grandma and Grandpa there! My parents are right now flying to Seoul, Korea, for a conference and to visit friends who were here at AFIT. They'll be gone 10 days, so pray for their safety and for a good trip for them!
Nathan and Luke were huge helpers in the kitchen after the meal. Usually they like doing prewash, but this year they branched out into silverware prewash.
Jonathan was a super sweeper, and he also really liked washing down the tables.
The obligatory "wagon shot". I don't know how many family pictures we have had taken here! We're taking up more and more of the wagon though, LOL.
Eating breakfast with Grandma and Grandpa. The girls especially were so thrilled to have Grandma and Grandpa there! My parents are right now flying to Seoul, Korea, for a conference and to visit friends who were here at AFIT. They'll be gone 10 days, so pray for their safety and for a good trip for them!
Nathan and Luke were huge helpers in the kitchen after the meal. Usually they like doing prewash, but this year they branched out into silverware prewash. 
Jonathan was a super sweeper, and he also really liked washing down the tables. A few more pictures in the next post . . .
More WSS Pictures
On Saturday afternoon we took a hike behind the hotel. Nathan had hiked up to "Hezekiah's Backbone" during Camp Caleb this summer, and he was eager to show us the great view. My mom stayed with Faith while she napped, and the rest of us set out. We knew Anna, Grace, and I wouldn't be able to make it the whole way because I needed to get back to nurse, but they hiked a good 35 minutes up the mountain (which took almost an hour back down, LOL). 
The boys were rewarded with a great view off of both sides of the mountain! Nathan and Luke were particularly disappointed that I couldn't see it, but I assured them that there would come a time when I wasn't nursing and we didn't have so many small children!
Sunday night we had a square dance. The older boys especially had a great time. Here you can see Luke and his little partner, a cute girl named Lauren (and before you ask, I really don't know how this came about, whether he asked her or what?!), and Nathan and his partner, a friend from way back in the chapel. Luke and I were partners for the Virginia Reel, the only thing I danced. Even Jonathan danced that one! The girls were so tired during the whole thing. One of the staffers held Grace and did some of the line dances, but Anna just sat on the bench along with Caleb, who has apparently decided that square dancing is not his thing, LOL.Friday, September 04, 2009
Classical Conversations
Yesterday was our first day of Classical Conversations, and I am happy to announce that it went very well! I think my (tutoring) kids all enjoyed it, and we'll see how much they remember from our memory work next week. I have an autistic boy in my class. His mom is my special helper, and I think it will be good for all the kids. Each class has a special needs person in it, ranging from Down's syndrome to Aspergers to the full-fledged autism of the child in my class. Peter seemed to be having a good time, and he even participated some in some of the timeline movements! He can read well, so for presentations, where we introduced each other, he read a little thing about himself. I think he will read his presentations each time. His mom is so nice, so I am glad to have her always in the class.
Anna pitched a little fit about going into the nursery--darn that CC practicum!--but she eventually settled down and had a good time. Faith even fell asleep on the floor for a little nap! My directer is teaching the art section for each class to give the tutors a break. This is wonderful for me. We do art at 10:30, and that is when I nurse Faith and give her a bit of solid food. I had been wondering how the whole nursing thing would work, and this is great!
After we were done, we all ate lunch behind the church. The church is actually in a strip mall-type thing, but behind it is a nice strip of grass, some trees, and a little stage with benches around it. It makes for a surprisingly nice picnic area! We had brought a football, so after eating the boys all played football. I took Anna back in to go potty, and when I came back, the boys were all milling around, looking up at the roof. Someone had punted, and the ball got stuck on the roof! It was a flat roof, but it was still pretty high. The boys had some suggestions, but I told them that frankly it would be easier and cheaper to just got to Walmart and buy a new ball, rather than have Daddy come back at night with a ladder to rescue the ball and possibly get arrested! After awhile, Janna, one of the other moms, an Air Force wife who is also in our other co-op, decided she would deal with situation. She found this enourmously long stick (branch, really, LOL), and she hefted it towards the roof and started trying to sweep the ball down. Her (6th grade) son moved a picnic table over for her to stand on, and with him guiding her, she managed to knock down the ball! What a hero! We all decided that THIS is what all the kids would remember from their first day at Classical Conversations!
Anna pitched a little fit about going into the nursery--darn that CC practicum!--but she eventually settled down and had a good time. Faith even fell asleep on the floor for a little nap! My directer is teaching the art section for each class to give the tutors a break. This is wonderful for me. We do art at 10:30, and that is when I nurse Faith and give her a bit of solid food. I had been wondering how the whole nursing thing would work, and this is great!
After we were done, we all ate lunch behind the church. The church is actually in a strip mall-type thing, but behind it is a nice strip of grass, some trees, and a little stage with benches around it. It makes for a surprisingly nice picnic area! We had brought a football, so after eating the boys all played football. I took Anna back in to go potty, and when I came back, the boys were all milling around, looking up at the roof. Someone had punted, and the ball got stuck on the roof! It was a flat roof, but it was still pretty high. The boys had some suggestions, but I told them that frankly it would be easier and cheaper to just got to Walmart and buy a new ball, rather than have Daddy come back at night with a ladder to rescue the ball and possibly get arrested! After awhile, Janna, one of the other moms, an Air Force wife who is also in our other co-op, decided she would deal with situation. She found this enourmously long stick (branch, really, LOL), and she hefted it towards the roof and started trying to sweep the ball down. Her (6th grade) son moved a picnic table over for her to stand on, and with him guiding her, she managed to knock down the ball! What a hero! We all decided that THIS is what all the kids would remember from their first day at Classical Conversations!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)