Back to the daily grind...

Things are getting back to normal a bit this week. We're back to doing school daily (which I'm thankful for!) and Terry is back to work. He did find out on Monday that he will be working 4-day work-weeks starting with next week. He will have to use vacation time for that 5th day until his vacation time is gone. After that, I don't know what will happen. ?? *sigh* We're doing lots of praying right now, working on budgets, and trying to decide what to do with our house. Do we sell? Do we not sell?

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I haven't posted much about Clayton's latest issues....tummy troubles. He had the flu back in November and ever since then, hasn't been the same. He's been eating very oddly: only a few bites before saying he's full, only to come back within 30 minutes being hungry again. Then he would get so that he'd be literally sick to his stomach...to the point of feeling like he was gonna throw up. That was around Thanksgiving. We decided to take him to the dr in mid-December cuz his eating was just not right, plus he was getting really constipated. The doc put him on a laxative, took blood, and took an x-ray to see how "full" he was. The x-ray showed he wasn't impacted (yet) but he was very full. :( So we started the laxative and were supposed to do that for a month and come back.

THEN, over Christmas, we were in Salem and C hadn't gone to the bathroom from a Sunday to a Saturday (even on the laxative!) and he wasn't eating at all. We started getting concerned and started feeding him prunes and increasing water and other fruit, but he just wasn't eating much....cuz he was FULL. LOL Well, I massaged his tummy for a while (which he said hurt, of course) and he was finally able to go. He was better after that, a little, but was still having issues.

Well, thankfully, he had his one month appointment with Dr Mark and we explained what all happened. Dr said that there are some kids who have this problem that have to be on a laxative for up to 6 months!! (The reason being is that by being constipated for so long, they have stretched their colons and using the laxative keeps things regular and being on it for that long gives the muscles time to 'repair' and go back to the normal size.) He took another x-ray and did one more blood test (poor kid keeps getting stuck!). The x-ray showed that his colon is still full (which kinda confuses me) and that his TSH (thyroid) is within normal range.

(**SIDE NOTE** His TSH they said was in 'normal' range. However, normal range is .3 to 5.5...C's TSH was 1.3. Yes, that is within normal range, but it's on the LOW side of normal, right? I mean, on a scale of 0 to 5, 1 seems pretty low. Is his something to pursue???)

Anyway, we are going to continue with things the way they are for another month and see what happens. We're increasing water intake for him and really working on watching what he's eating.

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I have a couple videos that I have tried uploading (of Christmas) and something is up with Blogger...they aren't working. *Sigh* Maybe sometime I can get them on here! LOL

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I have a dear (and VERY patient!) friend who asked about my filing system I use in my school room/office. Well, I have meant to take pictures for... well, for a VERY long time...and have just gotten it done! I am posting them below to show you how I was taught to file things. Now, this filing system is just for myself...this is not the system we use for our family files (like budgetary stuff). Those are in a small file at the desk. This file cabinet is basically my personal file cabinet which contains all things school related and all Bible class material that I have and anything else I want to file for personal use. This system I now use was shown to me by a friend who is a born organizer! LOL She came down about 2 years ago now and helped me organize all of our school room. It is actually a system that I have maintained (meaning that when I clean the school room up, I still use this system) and I really do like it.

First is the files:
These first two below are an over-view. You can see that there are first, hanging files with all tab-names on the left. Each hanging file is labeled with some subject that is easy for me to remember. This would be custom-created for each person who is doing this. So, for instance, you can see that some of mine are Art, Clayton (he and Brent get their own files), Convention Notes, Coupons, Crafts, God/Father, Holidays, Holy Spirit, etc. (On God/Father and Holy Spirit: Holly (my friend) said that if there is a few specific areas that I am interested in and find myself collecting articles on or studying on more often than others, to start a separate file for those topics and when I have an article about it I can just drop it into that particular file. Otherwise, all other articles, notes, or thoughts, go in a general "Spiritual" file.) These files are all in alphabetical order, too.

Below, is the main hanging file labeled "Holidays". Within that file are manila folders with different holidays listed on them (right): Halloween, Christmas, Easter, etc. This way when I get a craft idea or a decorating idea on a particular holiday, I can stick it in here. When that holiday comes around and I'm doing school and thinking, 'It'd be nice to have a craft for this,' then I can go to that file instead of the arts and crafts file, since I am wanting a craft about a specific topic.

Now, let's say that the Christmas folder gets really full...and is almost too full to contain in the Holidays hanging folder (which is a conceivable happening, since Christmas is my favorite holiday and I save just about everything regarding Christmas!). When this happens (for any topic) you just start a new hanging folder for that topic (Christmas) and transfer all things in the Christmas folder to the Christmas hanging file.

Another for instance, my science hanging file is HUGE, containing topics from earth science to animal science, to trees, to food. It started out that we had one hanging file for Science and manila folders within it for all the different kinds of sciences. Once we saw how much was in each manila folder, we decided to split them out. Now, I have one complete section (at the end of all my hanging files) just for Science. That section has given each type of science it's own hanging file labeling it Animal Science, Earth Science, Space/Astronomy, etc. Within Animal Science, there are manila folders labeled things like snakes, land animals, water animals, etc. Within Earth Science there are manila folders labeled dirt, trees, rocks, etc.

I also have a regular Science hanging file in the regular alphabetized hanging files for other things science that I run across that don't have a specific area yet in our system.

Below, is the Bible Class materials drawers. Each topic that I had information for or each Book of the Bible that I had information for got it's own hanging file and these, too, are alphabetized. Within each file are the lessons and worksheets that I have collected over the years for them. So when (if) I'm teaching again and I'm teaching on the Beattitudes, I have a file just for that topic that is filled with worksheets and lesson ideas.

On our bookshelves are the curriculum books that I use and browse through throughout the year and the reference books that we use. However, there are also a lot of 'containers' on the shelves. See, I used to have piles of glue bottles and nowhere to put them. Boxes of crayons (or half-boxes was more the case) and no good way to store them. TONS of pencils and pens and nowhere to store them. Markers, sticky notes, paper clips, etc. No good way to store any of it except in a big messy box. Well, Holly suggested putting all like things in a plastic container with a lid (so it's stackable) on the shelves.

First, she put all the markers in one container, all the pens and pencils in another, all the crayons in another, all art supplies in another, all glue (from stick to bottle) in another, and all paper in another (I had construction paper, loose leaf paper, tablets, and kids lined paper everywhere!), and all these things she stacked on the shelves. WOW! I now knew where everything was! :) **One thing to note here is that these containers need to be clear and see-through so that you know which one to go into when you're getting things out.**

Next, she got some of those stackable rolly-carts with different sized drawers for the desk supplies that I had no room for at the desk. Within these drawers were storage trays and dividers for things to lay neatly in. In them is everything from tape (scotch, packing, duck, masking) to Sharpie markers to sticky notes to paper clips to staples to highlighters to rubber bands and more. There are even battery drawers at the very top where we segregate AA's, AAA's, C's, and D's. Now we know (or I do!) where to look for anything.

Like I said, this system is one that I have been maintaining now for about 2 years. Granted, there are many times where you could walk into my school room and it doesn't look like anything is maintained except chaos!!! LOL But whether clean or dirty, the system still is what it is and I can still find things. And we're getting better at putting it all back where it goes when we're finished. That is something we're working on! LOL

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That's all for now...but since it's taken me about 3 days to get this typed out, I will have to say it's enough! :)