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!
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
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!
Friday, August 28, 2009
Update
I guess it's time for an update, especially since next week co-ops start back up, and then I'll really be busy! I've composed many blog posts in my head the past few weeks, but very few of them have actually been posted!
1. School
I had many grand summer plans, academically-speaking, but they really didn't happen. Instead, we went places, and had visitors come to us, which was great! We got to spend a lot of time with people from both sides of the family, plus Nathan and Luke had special times at the aerospace camp and at Camp Caleb. To be honest, I think this is the first summer where we've taken more than a 2-3 week break from school. The boys were all in favor, LOL. We started back 2 weeks ago, and things are going well overall. Nathan and Luke are doing more stuff independently, but they have it easy right now. They are both starting writing co-ops in another week, so they'll be busy with those assignments. We haven't started Henle Latin either. We've just been reviewing vocab slowly. I'm hoping they can do that pretty independently whenever we do start. Nathan also is going to be doing a logic course this year, but the text from Memoria Press was backordered, and it just shipped yesterday. He will start when the book gets here. I'm really excited about this course because I bought the DVDs to go along with it, so I don't have to be the one actually teaching it. Woo-hoo!
I am really focusing on Caleb and Jonathan, and I am already seeing real improvements in their reading skills, especially Jonathan's. We all start Classical Conversations on Thursday, so we'll see how that goes. I think that will really help keep us all on track with history and science. We've already started listening to the Story of the World CDs (the Ancients) in the car. They are doing well with Prima Latina. I'm trying to get them finished with last year's math books, which they never did finish (this was what I was going to be working on with them through the summer, LOL). A few more weeks, then it will be on to the new books. I'm anal that way.
2. Assignment
I think this is the biggest deal, much bigger than what we actually are doing in school! This has been the thing that I know the least about, however, so I've just not said anything at all. We basically kicked the decision can down the road back in the end of July by having Bob volunteer for the Toronto job. Since that requires a French proficiency, he had to take a language aptitude test to see if he would even qualify to go to language school to learn French! He was supposed to take the test Tuesday, but it got cancelled, and he took it today. In the meantime, he ran into someone where he works who just got back from Guam. She liked it and said people with families really enjoyed it. Bob told me to look into it, so I googled and read up. People who have been stationed there almost uniformly give positive feedback about it. Plus, my family was stationed on Okinawa when I was in 1st-4th grades, and some of my funnest growing-up memories are of there. We just did fun things! The beaches, the snorkeling, the space-A travel around the Pacific--fun! Guam seems to be a lot like Okinawa. All this made me a lot more interested in Guam as a possible assignment. I remembered that Tonya had mentioned a homeschooling friend with 7 kids who had moved there, so I asked her about it. She hooked me up with Carolyn, who has been patiently answering all my questions! So I would say that I am excited about Guma, but I don't thnk Bob is as excited. He has never lived overseas, and he rightly says that it is far away! Plus, it's an IG job, and the lady from work thinks that next year is the big ORI for the Pacific area, so he would probably be pretty busy next year. And he also pointed out that he doesn't really have an IG experience, but now, as a lieutenant colonel, he would actually be responsible for stuff . . . But it does seem like if we wanted to go to Guam, the assignment guy would be okay with that, because they are desperately trying to fill these IG jobs right now. One big question for me would be the report date. We could maybe do April or something, but anythng earlier would be a deal-breaker for sure. We are not a light, flexible crew!
So this morning Bob took the language aptitude test, and he did indeed pass it. So now he could go to Monterrey, CA to language school for a few (?) months. It seems like this would be in-route, so we would have orders before he went. (The new wrinkle with the military housing assistance plan, where the gov't gives back money you lost when you sell your house is that you have to have orders by December.) But for Bob to learn a language, he wold probably have to go out there alone to have a shot, since we are also not a silent crew! Plus, we have co-op commitments, and the house isn't really ready, so it would be hard to leave earlier, again, than April-ish. I think Bob likes the idea of the Toronto job better because it would be easy, plus we would be closer to family, especially his family, since his parents are getting elderly. I on the other hand like the idea of living on a tropical island with no winter clothes!!
We have some major decisions to make, and it might end up that we just retire and don't move again. For me, it's hard to say that it's over, we're staying here. I like the idea of one more adventure. But it might not be worth it.
3. Faith
I thought I would just throw in a few sentences about Faith! She is finally not waking up in the wee hours of the morning again, thankfully. She seems to be moving back to her usual 7:00 wake-up time, which is much more pleasant than the 4:00-5:00 that she was waking up. Crazy teething. She is also sitting so much more steadily! I fianlly gave her a bath in the big tub last night with the other 2 girls because I thought she was stable enough to not be knocked down by any slight wave, and she did great! I didn't even take her out as soon as I was done with her because she was sitting so well! She really had a fun time splashing around in there and playing with the big kid toys. She's still not crawling with her tummy off the ground though. She likes her army crawl!
Well, I need to get dinner going because tonight is Bible study. Now you have some idea of what we're thinking, even if we still don't know anything for sure yet!
1. School
I had many grand summer plans, academically-speaking, but they really didn't happen. Instead, we went places, and had visitors come to us, which was great! We got to spend a lot of time with people from both sides of the family, plus Nathan and Luke had special times at the aerospace camp and at Camp Caleb. To be honest, I think this is the first summer where we've taken more than a 2-3 week break from school. The boys were all in favor, LOL. We started back 2 weeks ago, and things are going well overall. Nathan and Luke are doing more stuff independently, but they have it easy right now. They are both starting writing co-ops in another week, so they'll be busy with those assignments. We haven't started Henle Latin either. We've just been reviewing vocab slowly. I'm hoping they can do that pretty independently whenever we do start. Nathan also is going to be doing a logic course this year, but the text from Memoria Press was backordered, and it just shipped yesterday. He will start when the book gets here. I'm really excited about this course because I bought the DVDs to go along with it, so I don't have to be the one actually teaching it. Woo-hoo!
I am really focusing on Caleb and Jonathan, and I am already seeing real improvements in their reading skills, especially Jonathan's. We all start Classical Conversations on Thursday, so we'll see how that goes. I think that will really help keep us all on track with history and science. We've already started listening to the Story of the World CDs (the Ancients) in the car. They are doing well with Prima Latina. I'm trying to get them finished with last year's math books, which they never did finish (this was what I was going to be working on with them through the summer, LOL). A few more weeks, then it will be on to the new books. I'm anal that way.
2. Assignment
I think this is the biggest deal, much bigger than what we actually are doing in school! This has been the thing that I know the least about, however, so I've just not said anything at all. We basically kicked the decision can down the road back in the end of July by having Bob volunteer for the Toronto job. Since that requires a French proficiency, he had to take a language aptitude test to see if he would even qualify to go to language school to learn French! He was supposed to take the test Tuesday, but it got cancelled, and he took it today. In the meantime, he ran into someone where he works who just got back from Guam. She liked it and said people with families really enjoyed it. Bob told me to look into it, so I googled and read up. People who have been stationed there almost uniformly give positive feedback about it. Plus, my family was stationed on Okinawa when I was in 1st-4th grades, and some of my funnest growing-up memories are of there. We just did fun things! The beaches, the snorkeling, the space-A travel around the Pacific--fun! Guam seems to be a lot like Okinawa. All this made me a lot more interested in Guam as a possible assignment. I remembered that Tonya had mentioned a homeschooling friend with 7 kids who had moved there, so I asked her about it. She hooked me up with Carolyn, who has been patiently answering all my questions! So I would say that I am excited about Guma, but I don't thnk Bob is as excited. He has never lived overseas, and he rightly says that it is far away! Plus, it's an IG job, and the lady from work thinks that next year is the big ORI for the Pacific area, so he would probably be pretty busy next year. And he also pointed out that he doesn't really have an IG experience, but now, as a lieutenant colonel, he would actually be responsible for stuff . . . But it does seem like if we wanted to go to Guam, the assignment guy would be okay with that, because they are desperately trying to fill these IG jobs right now. One big question for me would be the report date. We could maybe do April or something, but anythng earlier would be a deal-breaker for sure. We are not a light, flexible crew!
So this morning Bob took the language aptitude test, and he did indeed pass it. So now he could go to Monterrey, CA to language school for a few (?) months. It seems like this would be in-route, so we would have orders before he went. (The new wrinkle with the military housing assistance plan, where the gov't gives back money you lost when you sell your house is that you have to have orders by December.) But for Bob to learn a language, he wold probably have to go out there alone to have a shot, since we are also not a silent crew! Plus, we have co-op commitments, and the house isn't really ready, so it would be hard to leave earlier, again, than April-ish. I think Bob likes the idea of the Toronto job better because it would be easy, plus we would be closer to family, especially his family, since his parents are getting elderly. I on the other hand like the idea of living on a tropical island with no winter clothes!!
We have some major decisions to make, and it might end up that we just retire and don't move again. For me, it's hard to say that it's over, we're staying here. I like the idea of one more adventure. But it might not be worth it.
3. Faith
I thought I would just throw in a few sentences about Faith! She is finally not waking up in the wee hours of the morning again, thankfully. She seems to be moving back to her usual 7:00 wake-up time, which is much more pleasant than the 4:00-5:00 that she was waking up. Crazy teething. She is also sitting so much more steadily! I fianlly gave her a bath in the big tub last night with the other 2 girls because I thought she was stable enough to not be knocked down by any slight wave, and she did great! I didn't even take her out as soon as I was done with her because she was sitting so well! She really had a fun time splashing around in there and playing with the big kid toys. She's still not crawling with her tummy off the ground though. She likes her army crawl!
Well, I need to get dinner going because tonight is Bible study. Now you have some idea of what we're thinking, even if we still don't know anything for sure yet!
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
King Cluck
I had a meeting last Tuesday here at our house with the other ladies who will be teaching the Egypt unit at our co-op. Our task was to plan the big 5th-week activity that is the culmination of the unit. We're having a 4 room rotation, sort of like we had for the medieval feast last year that I was on charge of. (How come I keep getting stuck with these big history units?!) Anyhow, I am going to be doing a "mummy" room. The Story of the World Activity Guide for the Ancients has a "chicken mummifying" activity, and I thought it would be nice to have one completed chicken mummy, complete with strips of linen, as well as another chicken mummy that was mummified, but not yet rubbed with oil, stuffed with fabric or sawdust, and wrapped in linen. I'll talk about the process of mummifying, and then the kids will prepare bananas for "mummifying" by taking out the insides, stuffing them, and sewing them shut. (That part is someone else's idea, so I don't have all the specifics on that.)
So when we went to the commissary last week, we loaded up on salt, baking soda, baking powder, a few spices, and some whole chickens. Two nights ago I started the process on Chicken #1, who I like to call "King Cluck". I washed the chicken with hot water, and then with rubbing alcohol, after removing all the innards and gross stuff. I mixed up a big bowl of 2 boxes of salt, half a box of baking powder, and 8 ounces of baking soda (I got a humongous box of this, which is why I had to measure it out), as well as some cloves and cinnamon to make it smell nicer. I poured this mixture into the bird's cavity, and then into the bottom of a gallon plastic bag. In went the chicken and the rest of the salt mixture.
Last night I had to change the salt mixture. The cinnamon and cloves keep it from smelling too bad on the counter, but it is still not roses when you take King Cluck out of his bag! Bob wanted no part in dealing with it! Now hopefully I won't have to change the salt again until tomorrow, and then 2-4 days after that. The whole process should take about 6 weeks, at which point it will be time to rub with oil and wrap with fabric. I will certainly keep you posted, since I know you must be on the edges of your seats with excitment!
So when we went to the commissary last week, we loaded up on salt, baking soda, baking powder, a few spices, and some whole chickens. Two nights ago I started the process on Chicken #1, who I like to call "King Cluck". I washed the chicken with hot water, and then with rubbing alcohol, after removing all the innards and gross stuff. I mixed up a big bowl of 2 boxes of salt, half a box of baking powder, and 8 ounces of baking soda (I got a humongous box of this, which is why I had to measure it out), as well as some cloves and cinnamon to make it smell nicer. I poured this mixture into the bird's cavity, and then into the bottom of a gallon plastic bag. In went the chicken and the rest of the salt mixture.
Last night I had to change the salt mixture. The cinnamon and cloves keep it from smelling too bad on the counter, but it is still not roses when you take King Cluck out of his bag! Bob wanted no part in dealing with it! Now hopefully I won't have to change the salt again until tomorrow, and then 2-4 days after that. The whole process should take about 6 weeks, at which point it will be time to rub with oil and wrap with fabric. I will certainly keep you posted, since I know you must be on the edges of your seats with excitment!
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Just One More Recipe . . .
Okay, this is not going to turn into a cooking blog, LOL, but I wanted to share this recipe I tried tonight for the first time. It's from the July/August issue of Simple and Delicious (which used to be Quick Cooking). When Melinda was out here in July, she mentioned that she stir-fried using balsamic vinegar, since she is allergic to soy, and this recipe uses balsamic vinaigrette and tastes JUST like an Asian noodle bowl without any soy! It was so easy and yummy! Of course I doubled the recipe--and I have a little tub left over, maybe enough for lunch.
Asian Chicken With Pasta
1/2 pound uncooked angel hair pasta
1 pound chicken cut into 1 inch cubes
1/3 cup balsamic vinaigrette
1/3 cup Italian salad dressing
1 package (12 ounces) broccoli coleslaw mix
1/2 pound sliced fresh mushrooms
3/4 cup julienned red pepper
1/2 cup sliced onion (I used green onion)
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. salt
1/ tsp. pepper
Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in large skillet, saute chicken in vinaigrette and salad dressing until no longer pink. Remove and keep warm. In the same skillet, saute the coleslaw mix, mushrooms, red pepper, and onion until tender. Add the seasonings. Stir in the chicken; heat through. Drain pasta. Add to chicken mixture; toss to coat.
Asian Chicken With Pasta
1/2 pound uncooked angel hair pasta
1 pound chicken cut into 1 inch cubes
1/3 cup balsamic vinaigrette
1/3 cup Italian salad dressing
1 package (12 ounces) broccoli coleslaw mix
1/2 pound sliced fresh mushrooms
3/4 cup julienned red pepper
1/2 cup sliced onion (I used green onion)
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. salt
1/ tsp. pepper
Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in large skillet, saute chicken in vinaigrette and salad dressing until no longer pink. Remove and keep warm. In the same skillet, saute the coleslaw mix, mushrooms, red pepper, and onion until tender. Add the seasonings. Stir in the chicken; heat through. Drain pasta. Add to chicken mixture; toss to coat.
Monday, August 17, 2009
6-Month Well-Baby Appointment
Faith had her 6 month appointment this morning. At her 4-month appointment , she was 12 pounds, 10 ounces. Today, 2 months later, she was . . . 12 pounds, 13 ounces! Yes, she gained all of 3 ounces in 2 months! The doctor was concerned and even took her back to reweigh her, although I said that the weight sounded right. The problem for my kids is that they get really active between 4 months and 6 months, and they stop gaining much weight at all. I went back and checked Grace's calendar. At her 4 month appointment, she was 12 pounds, 2 ounces, and at her 6 month one (which was more like 7 1/2 months actually), she was 13 pounds, 1 ounce. I imagine Faith will have gained about a pound by the end of next month. The doctor looked at all my skinny kids and agreed that this is just how we are. She did say she wanted to see Faith gain more than 3 ounces when she comes back at 9 months.
Faith was 27 inches, which is a little longer than Grace was, even at 7 1/2 months.
Faith wouldn't sit on the examining table for some reason. She kept herself stiff as a board! She will sit at home, but she much prefers to be on her tummy where she can pull herself along. I need to work more on having her just sit. When I was looking back through Grace's calendar (before you think I am so organized, realize that I was so easily able to look at it because it is STILL on the kitchen desk in my big pile of papers!), and I noticed that by 6 months, she was already crawling (with tummy off the ground, which Faith doesn't do yet), pushing to sitting, and pulling to standing! At Bible study on Friday, Faith pulled herself to her knees using a rung on a chair, but she is nowhere near ready to pull to standing! Grace must have been really athletic, LOL.
So the doctor agreed that Faith is a healthy, happy baby who just happens to be skinny. She doesn't actually look as skinny as Grace or Luke did at this age, though, so I was surprised to hear she weighed less. You know, I stopped nursing Luke at 6 months because he was so skinny, and I thought it must be me. I put him on a bottle and gave him tons of solid food. And he was and is still skinny as a rail. I am so glad I now have the confidence to know that my kids just have high metabolisms, and they don't need to be put on a bottle! My kids are all really good sleepers and very contented babies (especially Faith, as I have said before!), so I know they aren't starving or uncomfortable at all. I told the doctor we were the poster family for anti-childhood obesity!
We went to get Faith's shots after the appointment, and as we were waiting, Nathan, who was holding her, noticed that she DOES have a tooth in! It's on the bottom, and it's barely poked through, but you can definitely feel it!
Faith was 27 inches, which is a little longer than Grace was, even at 7 1/2 months.
Faith wouldn't sit on the examining table for some reason. She kept herself stiff as a board! She will sit at home, but she much prefers to be on her tummy where she can pull herself along. I need to work more on having her just sit. When I was looking back through Grace's calendar (before you think I am so organized, realize that I was so easily able to look at it because it is STILL on the kitchen desk in my big pile of papers!), and I noticed that by 6 months, she was already crawling (with tummy off the ground, which Faith doesn't do yet), pushing to sitting, and pulling to standing! At Bible study on Friday, Faith pulled herself to her knees using a rung on a chair, but she is nowhere near ready to pull to standing! Grace must have been really athletic, LOL.
So the doctor agreed that Faith is a healthy, happy baby who just happens to be skinny. She doesn't actually look as skinny as Grace or Luke did at this age, though, so I was surprised to hear she weighed less. You know, I stopped nursing Luke at 6 months because he was so skinny, and I thought it must be me. I put him on a bottle and gave him tons of solid food. And he was and is still skinny as a rail. I am so glad I now have the confidence to know that my kids just have high metabolisms, and they don't need to be put on a bottle! My kids are all really good sleepers and very contented babies (especially Faith, as I have said before!), so I know they aren't starving or uncomfortable at all. I told the doctor we were the poster family for anti-childhood obesity!
We went to get Faith's shots after the appointment, and as we were waiting, Nathan, who was holding her, noticed that she DOES have a tooth in! It's on the bottom, and it's barely poked through, but you can definitely feel it!
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Some Recipes
I have had a few requests for recipes, so I am going to share 2 of them today. First of all, the recipe for the chicken/monterey jack soup that we had on Saturday. This is one of my collection of soups that are ready in 30 minutes or less, but I think it is the only one Caleb can't have, which is why we have it so rarely. It's not the healthiest, but it sure is creamy and delicious!
Chicken/Monterey Jack Soup
2 1/2 cups water
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 can chopped green chilies
1 can cream of potato soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/8 tsp. garlic salt
1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
2 cups chicken cooked and chopped
8 ounces monterey jack cheese shredded
Bring water, tomato, and green chilies to a boil in large saucepan. Boil for 5 minutes. Stir in soups, garlic salt, milk, and chicken. Cook and stir over medium heat until heated through. Place shredded cheese in serving bowls and ladle hot soup over. [If I don't have a fresh tomato, then I use a can of diced tomatoes, which I add with the remaining ingredients instead of boiling. Also, I never use garlic salt. I just throw in some garlic and some salt, LOL. And I also just use whatever amount of frozen cooked chicken I happen to have. So the recipe is pretty forgiving.]
When my Aunt Claire was out, I made a blueberry dessert from a recipe in the Pittsburg paper. My mother-in-law is so kind that she sends me the weekend crossword puzzles from their paper, because they have really great crosswords. The bonus is that I also get to read those sections of their paper! I was going to give the recipe to my aunt, but actually I thought the recipe was just okay. Later on I found the blueberry recipe I usually make, which I made for Bible study last night. I really like it, so I thought I'd go ahead and post it, which came from an old issue of Quick Cooking magazine many years ago.
Blueberry Kuchen
1 1/2 c. flour
3/4 c. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. lemon peel
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt
2/3 c. milk
1/4 c. butter, melted
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. fresh or frozen blueberries
Combine first 6 ingredients. Add milk, butter, egg, and vanilla. Beat for 2 minutes or until well-blended. Pour into greased 9x13 pan. Sprinkle with blueberries, and then with topping.
Topping
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. flour
1/4 c. butter, melted
in a bowl, combine sugar and flour; add butter. Toss with a fork until crumbly. Sprinkle over blueberries. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until lightly browned.
[I never have lemons around, so I will squirt a little lemon juice in when I'm adding the liquid ingredients. Also, on Friday I used frozen blueberries that I didn't thaw before using. When I took the dessert out of the oven, it looked like the blueberries had popped and exploded all over! It tasted fine, but it looked messy, LOL. So maybe you should thaw the frozen blueberries before using.]
Chicken/Monterey Jack Soup
2 1/2 cups water
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 can chopped green chilies
1 can cream of potato soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/8 tsp. garlic salt
1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
2 cups chicken cooked and chopped
8 ounces monterey jack cheese shredded
Bring water, tomato, and green chilies to a boil in large saucepan. Boil for 5 minutes. Stir in soups, garlic salt, milk, and chicken. Cook and stir over medium heat until heated through. Place shredded cheese in serving bowls and ladle hot soup over. [If I don't have a fresh tomato, then I use a can of diced tomatoes, which I add with the remaining ingredients instead of boiling. Also, I never use garlic salt. I just throw in some garlic and some salt, LOL. And I also just use whatever amount of frozen cooked chicken I happen to have. So the recipe is pretty forgiving.]
When my Aunt Claire was out, I made a blueberry dessert from a recipe in the Pittsburg paper. My mother-in-law is so kind that she sends me the weekend crossword puzzles from their paper, because they have really great crosswords. The bonus is that I also get to read those sections of their paper! I was going to give the recipe to my aunt, but actually I thought the recipe was just okay. Later on I found the blueberry recipe I usually make, which I made for Bible study last night. I really like it, so I thought I'd go ahead and post it, which came from an old issue of Quick Cooking magazine many years ago.
Blueberry Kuchen
1 1/2 c. flour
3/4 c. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. lemon peel
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt
2/3 c. milk
1/4 c. butter, melted
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. fresh or frozen blueberries
Combine first 6 ingredients. Add milk, butter, egg, and vanilla. Beat for 2 minutes or until well-blended. Pour into greased 9x13 pan. Sprinkle with blueberries, and then with topping.
Topping
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. flour
1/4 c. butter, melted
in a bowl, combine sugar and flour; add butter. Toss with a fork until crumbly. Sprinkle over blueberries. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until lightly browned.
[I never have lemons around, so I will squirt a little lemon juice in when I'm adding the liquid ingredients. Also, on Friday I used frozen blueberries that I didn't thaw before using. When I took the dessert out of the oven, it looked like the blueberries had popped and exploded all over! It tasted fine, but it looked messy, LOL. So maybe you should thaw the frozen blueberries before using.]
Visit With Rose
Bob's sister Rose and her 2 girls, Maddie and Amanda, came to visit Wednesday afternoon for a few days. We just hung out here Wednesday, and the kids played, which was nice. They had a good time playing Balderdash in the evening.
Thursday Rose wanted to go somewhere, and I was having a hard time thinking of what to do. I have not bounced back really quickly from this cold thing I've had, as well as some canker sores, so a trip downtown was very daunting. Then Bob thought of the Udvar-Hazy Annex to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. Perfect! It's close to us, but it has tons of parking so even I am not intimidated by driving the big van there!
First we met Bob for lunch at Cici's Pizza, and then our plan was for him to drop us all off at the museum, then later come back to pick us up, as there is a $15 charge for parking (but no admission fee). But when we pulled up to the "Bus/Taxi?shuttle Drop-Off" gate, there was a big sign saying, "No Free Drop-Offs", which the gate attendant confirmed. We certainly weren't about to pay $30 to be dropped off and picked up, so we backed up and went back to Cici's so Bob could get his van and got back to work. The man had told us that Bob could let us off before the gates, and we could just walk up, but the gates are actually quite a ways from the entrance, and I told him since we had our 7 kids plus Rose's 2 . . . no, thanks.
As we were driving Bob back, we were wondering if school buses had to pay the $15, and Bob told me to ask the attendant when we went back. Then we had some funny imaginings on what if we get a big sign for the side of the van that said, "school bus", LOL.
When I pulled back up to the gate, the line for the parking lot side was long, because the first car was evidently having some big discussion with the attendant. ("Fifteen bucks to park?! Are you nuts?!" LOL) The man on the bus/taxi side got out a big flag and waved another car and us over to him. I grumbled to Rose about having to deal with that man again, but when I pulled up, he asked me, "Who do you have in there?" I said my 7 kids and my sister-in-law's 2 kids. He waved away my $20 bill and got out this big yellow notepad. "What's the name of your organization? he asked. I told him the "Lumen Gratiae Homeschool" and he dutifully wrote that down and waved us through. So I guess that answered our question about buses! He definitely recognized me as soon as I drove up again. He must have had some time to think about us or something! Too funny!
We first went up into the control tower they have. It looks out toward the Dulles Airport, which is quite the happening place. You can see airplanes taking off and landing on 2 runways, but the closest one to us had planes landing, then taking off, then landing, etc. every few minutes. The little girls could have stayed there forever! Grace especially really loves the airplanes that fly over our house (we're under and approach path), and so she was jumping up and down with excitement to see the airplanes so close!
Thursday Rose wanted to go somewhere, and I was having a hard time thinking of what to do. I have not bounced back really quickly from this cold thing I've had, as well as some canker sores, so a trip downtown was very daunting. Then Bob thought of the Udvar-Hazy Annex to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. Perfect! It's close to us, but it has tons of parking so even I am not intimidated by driving the big van there!
First we met Bob for lunch at Cici's Pizza, and then our plan was for him to drop us all off at the museum, then later come back to pick us up, as there is a $15 charge for parking (but no admission fee). But when we pulled up to the "Bus/Taxi?shuttle Drop-Off" gate, there was a big sign saying, "No Free Drop-Offs", which the gate attendant confirmed. We certainly weren't about to pay $30 to be dropped off and picked up, so we backed up and went back to Cici's so Bob could get his van and got back to work. The man had told us that Bob could let us off before the gates, and we could just walk up, but the gates are actually quite a ways from the entrance, and I told him since we had our 7 kids plus Rose's 2 . . . no, thanks.
As we were driving Bob back, we were wondering if school buses had to pay the $15, and Bob told me to ask the attendant when we went back. Then we had some funny imaginings on what if we get a big sign for the side of the van that said, "school bus", LOL.
When I pulled back up to the gate, the line for the parking lot side was long, because the first car was evidently having some big discussion with the attendant. ("Fifteen bucks to park?! Are you nuts?!" LOL) The man on the bus/taxi side got out a big flag and waved another car and us over to him. I grumbled to Rose about having to deal with that man again, but when I pulled up, he asked me, "Who do you have in there?" I said my 7 kids and my sister-in-law's 2 kids. He waved away my $20 bill and got out this big yellow notepad. "What's the name of your organization? he asked. I told him the "Lumen Gratiae Homeschool" and he dutifully wrote that down and waved us through. So I guess that answered our question about buses! He definitely recognized me as soon as I drove up again. He must have had some time to think about us or something! Too funny!
We first went up into the control tower they have. It looks out toward the Dulles Airport, which is quite the happening place. You can see airplanes taking off and landing on 2 runways, but the closest one to us had planes landing, then taking off, then landing, etc. every few minutes. The little girls could have stayed there forever! Grace especially really loves the airplanes that fly over our house (we're under and approach path), and so she was jumping up and down with excitement to see the airplanes so close!
Next we went down into the museum, and everyone really enjoyed the exhibits. We looked at the military planes, including this Marine F-4, and then we headed into the Space Hall.
We cruised through the commercial side on our way back, as people were getting tired. We also went up to this catwalk that is 3 storys high, which I have never been on before. The airplanes that were hanging close to it were these hilarious tiny little planes that basically looked like tuna cans with wings! They were the kind that people would maybe build in their garage or something, and we all agreed that we would never set foot in any of them! One of them stated in it's info that it "handled poorly in any but the lightest wind". Ummm, yeah . . . My favorite was this "Waterman Aerobile" built by none other than Waldo Waterman (surely you've heard of him? No? LOL!) He built it in the 1930's I think, and he used car parts to "maintain the look of an automobile". The kids were all like, "That doesn't look anything like a car!" I told them they needed to think more along the lines of Grandpa's Model A Ford, rather than our Toyota Sienna, LOL. 
Bob's sister Ann and her husband Wally came up from Richmond in time for dinner, and we had lots of fun playing Taboo afterwards! Then they all got up really early and left at 7:00 Friday morning to tour the White House. From there, they drove to Ocean City, MD for a weekend at the beach before heading back to their homes! We had a really fun time with them, even if it was short!
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
A New Look For Nathan
Way back on November 20, 2008, I took Nathan and Luke in for physicals. They did a little vision test, and the tech said that Nathan needed an eye exam because it looked like his eyes were 20/50. Obviously I got on that right away . . . not. I knew he needed to get seen, but with the baby coming, I just never even got around to seeing what eye doctors around here even take Tricare. Eventually I did look that up and found Hour Eyes not too far away, but still . . . I never got around to it. I guess that's the beauty of homeschooling--you don't spend much of your time staring at blurry screens way up in front of a classroom! Last Sunday Nathan did mention that he couldn't read the song words on the screen down in front, and my mom said that when he and Luke were out there in July, they would watch Jeopardy every night, and Nathan would sprint close to the TV each time to read the question. So finally I got around to taking him in last Friday for an eye exam. His eyes are 20/70, and we went straight over to WalMart and ordered glasses! (I didn't want to chance losing the prescription or something!) He tried on a bunch of pairs of frames, wanting to know if I thought he looked like Uncle Dan (a very handsome guy, I'll have you know!).
The glasses came in yesterday, and we picked them up. As he walked around the store with them on, he kept commenting on how crisp and bright everything was, and how he could read things so clearly now! I asked him how far away he had to be to read a sign without his glasses, and I was so amazed to find out it was really pretty close! He is the first child to need glasses, and Luke still had 20/20 vision at that checkup, so Nathan might be the only one for awhile. But I think I'll move faster on the next person. Poor oldest child--such a guinea pig!
Here is a picture of Nathan's new look. I don't know why it's so blurry. I didn't realize it until he had already gone to bed, and I wanted to be sure to post tonight so interested parties could be sure to see what he looks like!
The glasses came in yesterday, and we picked them up. As he walked around the store with them on, he kept commenting on how crisp and bright everything was, and how he could read things so clearly now! I asked him how far away he had to be to read a sign without his glasses, and I was so amazed to find out it was really pretty close! He is the first child to need glasses, and Luke still had 20/20 vision at that checkup, so Nathan might be the only one for awhile. But I think I'll move faster on the next person. Poor oldest child--such a guinea pig!
Here is a picture of Nathan's new look. I don't know why it's so blurry. I didn't realize it until he had already gone to bed, and I wanted to be sure to post tonight so interested parties could be sure to see what he looks like!
Monday, August 10, 2009
The Crud Goes Around . . .
Well, everyone made it back safely last night. Bob and the kids had a tremendous time at Idlewild on Saturday. Jonathan is a ride-lover, but the "Spider" is his favorite. Caleb likes the ferris wheel best. Even Anna rode the roller coaster! It's not her favorite, though. She told me this morning she was going to go back to Idlewild "tomorrow", but that she wasn't going to ride the roller coaster, LOL. Grace went on this hot air balloon ride with Bob, the one where it bascially is a bunch of swings just going around in circles, and Bob thinks that was her favorite. Bob's family was so great about taking the kids to different areas of the park, so that Caleb and Jonathan didn't have to spend all their time in the kiddie land!
I was so glad everyone was able to go and have a good time. We've been fighting some kind of crud (the CC practicum just keeps on giving . . .), starting with Anna a few days after the practicum ended. She ran a low-grade fever for a few nights, but was okay during the day. Then last Sunday night she got some gunk in her eyes, like pinkeye, and she also had a really snotty nose. Her eyes cleared up Tuesday, but by then Grace and Faith also had gunky eyes and snotty noses. Anna had a cough though. It took Grace and Faith forever for their eyes to get better, although I kept expecting it to just go away, like Anna's had. Finally on Friday I called to try to make appointments for them at Bethesda. Even though I called early in the morning, they didn't have any appointments available. But when the girls woke up, I decided that they finally were getting better, so I didn't worry much about it. Thursday night Jonathan started this croupy cough, so I was worried he wouldn't feel like going on Saturday. But he rallied, and the girls were fine too. Caleb was coughing by the time they all got home on Sunday, and Bob was all snuffly and had a sore throat. He actually stayed home from work today, and he has been very miserable all day. Now my throat is sore, and I have a headache, so I guess I have it too. Bleh. At least it seems like most people are getting over it quickly. We started school back up again today (it was WONDERFUL to be back in our routine), and I don't want me being sick to be the thing that keeps us from getting stuff done!
I was so glad everyone was able to go and have a good time. We've been fighting some kind of crud (the CC practicum just keeps on giving . . .), starting with Anna a few days after the practicum ended. She ran a low-grade fever for a few nights, but was okay during the day. Then last Sunday night she got some gunk in her eyes, like pinkeye, and she also had a really snotty nose. Her eyes cleared up Tuesday, but by then Grace and Faith also had gunky eyes and snotty noses. Anna had a cough though. It took Grace and Faith forever for their eyes to get better, although I kept expecting it to just go away, like Anna's had. Finally on Friday I called to try to make appointments for them at Bethesda. Even though I called early in the morning, they didn't have any appointments available. But when the girls woke up, I decided that they finally were getting better, so I didn't worry much about it. Thursday night Jonathan started this croupy cough, so I was worried he wouldn't feel like going on Saturday. But he rallied, and the girls were fine too. Caleb was coughing by the time they all got home on Sunday, and Bob was all snuffly and had a sore throat. He actually stayed home from work today, and he has been very miserable all day. Now my throat is sore, and I have a headache, so I guess I have it too. Bleh. At least it seems like most people are getting over it quickly. We started school back up again today (it was WONDERFUL to be back in our routine), and I don't want me being sick to be the thing that keeps us from getting stuff done!
Saturday, August 08, 2009
Quiet Day
I have been looking forward to today for a very long time! Bob took Caleb, Jonathan, Anna, and Grace up to PA for the weekend. Today is the annual company picnic for his dad's company at the amusement park close to them, and it's an annual tradition for the family to go. Actually, I have been pregnant/nursing for the past 3 years, so I haven't gone since Anna was a baby . . . heat and crowds just don't do it for me, especially when I am pregnant or nursing! Usually Bob takes the 4 boys, but this year Nathan and Luke were invited to Caleb McC's birthday party this afternoon. So Bob has taken the middle 4 kids, Nathan and Luke are at their party, and Faith is napping. I am practically alone in the house!!
After Faith and I dropped the boys off, we went to Kohls. I wanted to buy some running shoes because I have started the Couch to 5K running program. When we pulled up, I noticed that the parking lot was very crowded and busy, and the store was packed. It turns out that this is the annual "tax-free shopping weekend" here in VA. It originally started for school supplies, but now it seems to be for everything. Faith was happy hanging out in the stroller, so I bought 3 shirts and 2 pairs of capris (wow--clothes for me!), the afore-mentioned pair of running shoes, some new underwear (again--something for me!), and Christmas presents for Caleb and Jonathan. (Don't tell, but they are NFL jerseys, which were on sale, as well as having no sales tax!) It was a very successful afternoon!
Now, or at least once I get off the computer, LOL, I am planning on spending the rest of Faith's nap time planning my co-op lessons on Ancient Egypt. I don't teach until October, but we're having a planning meeting for our 5th week activity next week, and I want to know what all I'm going to cover. I also plan on spending some time getting my Classical Conversations stuff organized and plan out my first few tutor session. Maybe tonight, after Nathan and Luke go to bed, I'll even do some scrapbooking! I would love to start Grace's little book.
And of course, since Caleb is gone, we've officially declared a dairy-fest. We had grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch, and we'll have a chicken/monterey jack soup, which is SOOO yummy, for dinner. Tomorrow is our monthly fellowship meal after church, and for once I do NOT have to make sure I bring a dairy-free dish and dessert to ensure Caleb has something to eat! Nathan has requested au gratin potatoes.
I'm off to enjoy the quiet and get some planning done.
After Faith and I dropped the boys off, we went to Kohls. I wanted to buy some running shoes because I have started the Couch to 5K running program. When we pulled up, I noticed that the parking lot was very crowded and busy, and the store was packed. It turns out that this is the annual "tax-free shopping weekend" here in VA. It originally started for school supplies, but now it seems to be for everything. Faith was happy hanging out in the stroller, so I bought 3 shirts and 2 pairs of capris (wow--clothes for me!), the afore-mentioned pair of running shoes, some new underwear (again--something for me!), and Christmas presents for Caleb and Jonathan. (Don't tell, but they are NFL jerseys, which were on sale, as well as having no sales tax!) It was a very successful afternoon!
Now, or at least once I get off the computer, LOL, I am planning on spending the rest of Faith's nap time planning my co-op lessons on Ancient Egypt. I don't teach until October, but we're having a planning meeting for our 5th week activity next week, and I want to know what all I'm going to cover. I also plan on spending some time getting my Classical Conversations stuff organized and plan out my first few tutor session. Maybe tonight, after Nathan and Luke go to bed, I'll even do some scrapbooking! I would love to start Grace's little book.
And of course, since Caleb is gone, we've officially declared a dairy-fest. We had grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch, and we'll have a chicken/monterey jack soup, which is SOOO yummy, for dinner. Tomorrow is our monthly fellowship meal after church, and for once I do NOT have to make sure I bring a dairy-free dish and dessert to ensure Caleb has something to eat! Nathan has requested au gratin potatoes.
I'm off to enjoy the quiet and get some planning done.
Friday, August 07, 2009
Visit With Aunt Claire
We had such a fun visit with Aunt Claire! We were all so sad to see her leave to go back to Utah on Thursday. Here are just a few pictures from her visit, starting with a group shot after church on Sunday.
One big reason Aunt Claire came was to meet Faith, and she got to spend lots of time holding her!
Since Faith has started some solid foods, Aunt Claire got to feed her some of that too!
And of course we played games! We played Balderdash a few times. Nathan especially really likes that game, and I must say it is hilarious! It's so much more fun now that he and Luke are old enough to play. I will admit that a few times I voted for what I was sure was one of their answers, just to give them the points--and I was wrong! So obviously they have improved from when they first started playing the game a few years ago!
One big reason Aunt Claire came was to meet Faith, and she got to spend lots of time holding her!
Since Faith has started some solid foods, Aunt Claire got to feed her some of that too!
And of course we played games! We played Balderdash a few times. Nathan especially really likes that game, and I must say it is hilarious! It's so much more fun now that he and Luke are old enough to play. I will admit that a few times I voted for what I was sure was one of their answers, just to give them the points--and I was wrong! So obviously they have improved from when they first started playing the game a few years ago! We also played Ginnikub, and Bob and the boys even showed her how to play pinochle. (I was nursing during that. Such a pity!)
While we were busy playing games, we had to sustain ourselves with ice cream. While we were distracted over at the table, Grace starting mainlining it. She's one to take advantage of an opportunity!
Another reason Aunt Claire had to come out here was that she had recently reconnected with her very first best friend, who happens to live out here, not too far from us! Her name is Jenny, and when Aunt Claire was 4-7 years old she lived down the street from Jenny's family. My grandpa was stationed at the Pentagon during that time. They lived in a house in Springfield on "Flanders Street". I have looked that street up on the map, and it is some prime real estate, nestled as it is between the Beltway and the Mixing Bowl, which is what the maze of flyovers and exit ramps connecting I-495, I-95, and I-395 is called! Somehow I don't think my grandma would be happy there today, but those roads didn't exist in their present form back then.
While we were busy playing games, we had to sustain ourselves with ice cream. While we were distracted over at the table, Grace starting mainlining it. She's one to take advantage of an opportunity!
Another reason Aunt Claire had to come out here was that she had recently reconnected with her very first best friend, who happens to live out here, not too far from us! Her name is Jenny, and when Aunt Claire was 4-7 years old she lived down the street from Jenny's family. My grandpa was stationed at the Pentagon during that time. They lived in a house in Springfield on "Flanders Street". I have looked that street up on the map, and it is some prime real estate, nestled as it is between the Beltway and the Mixing Bowl, which is what the maze of flyovers and exit ramps connecting I-495, I-95, and I-395 is called! Somehow I don't think my grandma would be happy there today, but those roads didn't exist in their present form back then. Anyhow, Aunt Claire and Jenny enjoyed Mexican food on Wednesday at "On the Border", where they had lunch. They had a great time reminiscing. How fun!
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
Dentist Appointment
Anna had a dentist appointment today. The boys and she all went in for teeth cleaning back in June, where the dentist found that she had 2 spots on her teeth without enamel. It didn't form properly in the womb, and so now those spots needed to be sealed. The appointment in June didn't go all that well. I sent her on back with the hygenist, along with Luke, who would be getting his teeth cleaned at the same time right next to her, but soon Luke came out to get me, saying that Anna was too scared. Indeed, when I went back she was stiff as a board in the chair, with a look of abject terror on her face. I was able to get her to lay back and open her mouth so her teeth could be cleaned, but it was definitely not an easy thing. I was not looking forward to today at all!
The Lord was working things out, however, starting with my Aunt Claire being out here to visit. That meant I could leave everyone else here at home and just focus on Anna, which was a huge relief. When we walked back, she was again very scared, clutching my hand and being totally uptight. I sat her down in the chair, and I sat on the end of it, holding her hand and talking through what was happening to the college-aged girl in the next chair, who was getting her teeth clean. ("Look how nicely the big girl is laying there with her mouth wide open! That's because it doesn't hurt! And that noise is just like a little vacuum, sucking away the water!") Anna became a little more relaxed, but when the dentist approached her chair, she tightened right up again and did not want to lay back in the her chair. At this point, the dentist suggested that I lay back in the chair and let her lay on me. Perfect! She relaxed right away against me, opened her mouth right up, and we had no further problems whatsoever. She was not even tense at all! It was such a sweet picture of trust!
As her little prize, she got this lovely pair of sunglasses, LOL. She's stylin' now!
The Lord was working things out, however, starting with my Aunt Claire being out here to visit. That meant I could leave everyone else here at home and just focus on Anna, which was a huge relief. When we walked back, she was again very scared, clutching my hand and being totally uptight. I sat her down in the chair, and I sat on the end of it, holding her hand and talking through what was happening to the college-aged girl in the next chair, who was getting her teeth clean. ("Look how nicely the big girl is laying there with her mouth wide open! That's because it doesn't hurt! And that noise is just like a little vacuum, sucking away the water!") Anna became a little more relaxed, but when the dentist approached her chair, she tightened right up again and did not want to lay back in the her chair. At this point, the dentist suggested that I lay back in the chair and let her lay on me. Perfect! She relaxed right away against me, opened her mouth right up, and we had no further problems whatsoever. She was not even tense at all! It was such a sweet picture of trust!
As her little prize, she got this lovely pair of sunglasses, LOL. She's stylin' now!
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