ABC at Home

Another new year...

2011-08-22T14:21:00.003-05:00

It's amazing how things just sneak up on you...an upcoming event, a birthday, the new school year. We're still finishing things up from last year and all of a sudden I'm having to think about this upcoming year...and I'm panicking a bit. LOL Things aren't finished with the basement and I'm really feeling horribly disorganized.

In the next few days I hope to clean off my desk (which has "gone to Alaska" in the last year!), get a daily schedule back in order, order curriculum and get it here and organized, and begin school. My ultimate goal is to have all of that accomplished by Labor Day weekend...but I'm wondering now if that will happen. However, even if it doesn't, I will just have to deal with that, huh? LOL

Another thing that has snuck up on me....Clayton will turn 9 in just a few short weeks! NINE! My babies are growing!

Before we know it, Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here... But I'll think about that tomorrow!

No Matter Your Age...

2011-08-11T13:51:00.003-05:00

Recently I've been doing couponing...and let me tell you with 3 kids in tow, I get quite a few odd looks! Here we are with 2 shopping carts...the boys with Alivia in one, along with all the purses, diaper bags, etc, and me with the other one with my binder sitting up in the "child" area. We try to stay out of the way of other shoppers and stay *relatively* quiet... :-D Sometimes, we get nasty comments, but not all that often.

Yesterday, while in Schnucks, this older couple was shopping as well...we had passed them a couple of times in different aisles. They walked up behind us and said, "Let me guess...19 months apart and then 5 years." It took me a moment to realize they were talking about the spread of the kids' ages...I told them that the boys were 17 months apart, and then there was 7 and 9 years between them and Alivia. They were close in their guess...found out, after standing there talking to them for a bit, that they had children that are 19 months and then 4 years apart...very similar to mine. Then they continue on and tell me, "Yes, our oldest is 65." (!!!!! Emphasis mine!!!!!) Um, okay...I quickly did the math...even if they started at about 18, that would make them over 80. This delightful couple did NOT look a day over 65 themselves!! They were walking through the store commenting about the price of things, figuring out what to buy, which coupons to use (YES, they were couponing too!), and bantering back and forth like they were youngsters.

We swapped stories of couponing, the price of items, and such...and things about shopping with or without children (HA!). It was really quite fun! But what got me the most was how young they acted. They didn't complain about all these "young people" or how hard it was for them to get around (because clearly, they were both doing quite well in the physical department!) and were full of smiles and kind comments to a tired Mama with 3 kids in tow. It was truly refreshing to visit with a couple (randomly) that was upbeat and smiling, rather than complaining and grumpy!

It was a great reminder that no matter how bad we feel, or how old we are, we can offer a smile to someone else. No matter our age, we can chat with some random person in a store. No matter our age, we can swap stories with someone of a different generation.

I'm learning lately that older people sometimes feel dismissed...they feel that kids of today (and we're ALL considered "kids" to them!) ignore them, don't notice them, or just want to hurry past them to get to the next new item on the hot list for that day. I could have just smiled politely to that couple and lightly acknowledged their presence, but then gone back to my stressful and exhausting task of shopping and getting good deals. However, that's not me. I don't do that (intentionally, anyway!) and I didn't want to do that with them... I also realize that it's not all the "fault" of the youngsters of today...there are some "older" people that just like to complain. Plain and simple. They are hurting (physically? emotionally? spiritually?) and because of this hurt, they get grumpy with the people they see, they don't want to get up and go shopping or go run errands, they want to be left alone but not so alone that they get lonely. There is a delicate balance that needs to take place. We need to teach our children to acknowledge and learn from these older generations...they are passing away so quickly, it seems, that we're losing a great deal of their wisdom and knowledge. But we also need to help these older generations feel young again! We need to spend more time around them to help them feel young, help them smile again, and help them remember what it's like to raise children and try to shop with them! (I'd love any ideas on how to work on this little project....)

I'm so thankful I didn't dismiss them! It was a pleasant conversation and really added to my day! I only regret that I didn't get their names...how nice it would have been to possibly keep in contact.
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***I realize I haven't posted on here in a LONG time...I hope to remedy that soon. I'm really wanting to get things blogged more often...which will likely mean less Facebook time! LOL

Love Finds You in Tombstone, Arizona

2011-03-23T10:49:00.003-05:00

Love Finds You in Tombstone, Arizona

By Miralee Ferrell

Christy Grey (first seen in Last Chance, CA) used to be a dancehall girl, but has changed her life and had a new start in California. She has vowed never to go back to that life again. But when she receives a telegram stating that her mother is very ill, Christy leaves California and heads home to care for her mother. However, on the way the Christy is injured during a stagecoach robbery that leaves her with no money. When she arrives in Tombstone, Christy finds her brother at a gambling hall and her mother gravely ill in a shack of a home. Christy tries to look for work, but her brother’s reputation precedes her and hinders her progress. Finally Christy is forced to work in the gambling hall, but not as a “working girl.”

Nevada is a gun-fighter who is on the run. Unknowingly, he gets himself tied to the stagecoach robbers and ends up meeting Christy. Forced by a desire to help her, Nevada tracks Christy down in Tombstone. Along the way, Nevada feels the need to help one of the saloon girls leave that way of life. But soon his past catches up with him and Nevada finds himself searching for a brighter future…with God and with Christy.

The history and the research that went into this book is truly fascinating! The events that take place in the book are very similar to those that took place in real life in Tombstone in the late 1800’s. Miralee tells a wonderful story of love, acceptance, forgiveness, and resolution. We meet several new characters throughout this book that I, personally, would love to see in future stories!

While finding their way back to God, Christy and Nevada find their way to each other!

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I once again had the privilege of reading and reviewing this book for Miralee. I've read every book of hers so far and have never been disappointed, but I think this is my favorite so far! Thanks to Miralee for the chance to read and review!

Halloween 2010

2011-03-03T13:05:00.006-06:00

Well, due to the craziness of our lives after getting back on my own, we didn't get to carve our pumpkins until the day before Halloween! LOL The boys still had fun and they *insisted* we do one for Alivia too! This little one is hers...

For whatever reason, the boys wanted pictures of the insides of their hollowed out pumpkins...I just kept hoping that we saw the face of someone (the Pope, Bush, Sarah Palin) somewhere in there...but no luck. LOL

And then the boys wanted a picture of the "innards" of the pumpkins...which I cleaned up and soaked in saltwater for a couple of days and then baked. Terry said this years pumpkin seeds were the best ones I've ever done! Woot! Brent also felt the need to take a few pictures, and of course, had to get me from a weird angle. LOL Oh well...we were having fun!

Below left: Brent's Pumpkin that he carved. Below right: Clayton's pumpkin that he carved. (And both boys actually carved their own pumpkins this year. They used that little kit thing and did the little holes all around their design and then went back and finished it up. They did really well, but their hands were TIRED when they were finished!

Below left: Alivia's pumpkin, which *I* carved for her. (For some odd reason, she couldn't do it?? LOL) And then to the right is all three of their pumpkins on the porch.

All three kids together with their pumpkins:

Brent decided to be a sheriff for Halloween and was practicing is "swagger" the day we carved the pumpkins..., swagger and his mean face. LOL

Alivia was a pumpkin for Halloween, but oddly I don't have a picture of her in her pumpkin suit?? Hmm....

Clayton made up his own costume. That's kinda a story in itself. He had this grand idea/scheme of what he wanted to be and what he wanted me to do/make for him...none of it made sense to me and all of it involved probably15-20 hours worth of work on my part. Which normally I wouldn't mind...I've always enjoyed making their costumes for them. But after the summer/fall we'd already had up to that point, and with dealing with a little girl who cried a LOT, I just didn't have it in me to do all that for his costume. So, one night when I was out of ear shot, Clayton started in on all this stuff he needed me to do and Terry was the one listening. Apparently he came down kinda tough on Clayton for not "seeing" that I was extremely busy and didn't have all the time to sink into his costume. So the next morning he woke up and told me that he had it all planned out that he would make up his own costume and I wouldn't have to do a thing for him. (Bless him!) He used the 3-Musketeer's smock from last year, a belt, and a toy sword to become this Ninja-Musketeer-Soldier thing. *shrug* He was happy with it so it made me happy! :)

Brent and his sheriff guns...making more faces for the camera. I think the one on the right is my favorite:

Updates Continue: Clayton's Birthday and 4-H Pumpkin Patch

2011-03-03T12:36:00.004-06:00

We had Clayton's 8th birthday in Salem with the rest of the family. He really enjoyed having everyone sing to him!

Below: Brent helped Clayton read his cards...he's still struggling with reading, especially under "pressure." Mom and Dad got him a basketball for his birthday...he was really excited, because he finally has one of his own. (Brent has one, but Clayton wanted one of his own.)

Something was exciting, but I honestly don't know what. HA! Something tells me that their cousin had shot a Nerf bullet past their heads...thus Brent is shocked looking forward and Clayton is shocked looking behind him. In the background is Terry's mom (in the purple shirt).

My job during the opening of presents was to put little girl to sleep. She only prefers Mommy and was pretty fussy this night. Just LOVE her little "leggings" that Terry's sister got for Alivia!

Later in the month of October, we went with our 4-H group to the Pumpkin Patch here in town. The kids had SO much fun, although it was VERY windy! The temp was in the low 60's but with the wind blowing the way it was, it felt like the 40's...bitterly cold! (Had a hard time keeping Alivia warm during all that....)

Below, Brent is playing "Pumpkin Bowling"...

There were hay bales stacked together in a little tunnel-type of thing...all the kids had fun climbing through them. If you look close below, Brent's head is just barely sticking up from the bales...Clayton had decided to stand there and wait for Brent to pop up and then he's scream at him! LOL

There was an opening (like a car window) and Brent kept hollering at me to come see him...I get around the side and this is what I see:

All my babies at the pumpkin patch....Alivia looks like she could care less! :D

Brent's Birthday and Youth Trip to the Zoo

2010-11-18T11:25:00.004-06:00

I'm still trying to get some blogging caught up, so I'm going back to the spring when we celebrated Brent's birthday! ;) He had a few friends over for his first-time-ever "sleep over" party...he was SO excited! Had such a great time, stayed up ALL night with his friends and then proceeded to be sick the next morning! We quickly figured out that his sick feeling was more due to exhaustion and low sugar levels. They had eaten junk food through the night and his body just didn't handle that well. After getting some juice into him (to raise the sugar levels) and then getting some real food into him, he started to feel better and within an hour was outside playing with his buddies while I made his lunch meal: BBQ chicken and homemade mac and cheese. :) He LOVES my mac and cheese! Anyway, this picture below is the only one from the party I can show because I don't know how the other moms feel about me showing their kids on the 'net.

A week or two later, we had Brent's family birthday when my parents and Terry's family could come down (I couldn't travel to them this time because of being so close to having Alivia). Brent had said he wanted a NASCAR cake, so I had him pick out a track from the NASCAR tracks and he picked out the Richmond track. (Please don't go look at that track and then critique me on what I did wrong...do you KNOW how hard it is to cut and mold cake!?!? LOL) At the very last down there is the finished product, but I didn't get the last and final shot that I wanted...we had ONE car that he specifically wanted, a Jeff Gordon race car. We had one, but didn't put it on until we were ready to do candles, then I had him close his eyes and I put Jeff Gordon crossing the finish line...winning the race, of course! LOL Anyway, I don't have a picture of that one, but it's okay...

Later in the summer, the Youth Group at church planned a trip to the zoo and since I was down after my surgery, I couldn't take them like I did last year. So, Terry took the boys up and they had a lot of fun. He got some really good shots too! :)

Alivia Grace Schafer

2010-10-26T14:50:00.011-05:00

On June 2, 2010, our lives were once again blessed with a child....Alivia Grace. She entered into this world weighing 6 lbs 14 oz and measuring 19 1/4 inches long. As soon as they got her bundled up and Terry brought back out to the operating room to me, I took one look at her and said, "She's our smallest one!" :-) She was so small, but (as you can see below) already so very alert. These two pictures below are when she is 30 minutes old and we're still in recovery:

Here, below, Alivia got to meet her brothers for the first time. We had it set up so that when I got back to my room, we would bring the boys in by themselves (without anyone else) and it could be just our little family for a few minutes. We felt it was only fair to have the boys be able to meet her and spend some time with her before anyone else. (And although the grandparents didn't necessarily like this, they understood.)

One with Grandpa (my dad) in the hospital...Dad only got to spend a couple days with us after Alivia was born because he started his new job (across the state) and had to leave to get ready for that.

Hehe...checking out of the hospital, she did NOT like being changed into her new dress. This was after we got her dressed and I was picking her up to hold her...Mom snapped this at just the right moment! LOL

Just Thinking....

This was her first bath at home....oh, she was MAD. (And to this day she STILL does not like her bath...) :(

I just love her feet....

Just napping and chillaxin'...

Terry's sister, Darlene, was in Hawaii when Alivia was born and brought these outfits/shirts back for the kids. I took some shots of them for Terry for Father's Day...So nice!

Clayton decided that since there was this new pillow out, he would figure out what all he could do with it... LOL Up on the head it goes...

This is "Grandma" Marcia holding Alivia when she brought food to us. Marcia is another deacons' wife at church and is a mentor and great friend to me. I have GREAT respect for her and she is like another grandma to Alivia (well, to all three kids!).

One night before bed, Mom was holding Alivia and got her to sleep. Well, along came Clayton and laid his head down on mom's lap. S-l-o-w-l-y, Alivia inched her way down till she was literally sitting (in her sleep) on Clayton's head. :-)

Just a couple shots that I liked....

A couple years ago, the boys learned the "chickie chickie" at VBS. One day, they all decided to call Alivia down to do the Chickie Chickie Dance... :)

Sleeping with Sophie....

In July, Jhansi and her kids came out to visit and meet Alivia. They got to spend some good "face time" together...

I just love her feet when she's sleeping....she always ends up kicking out one foot (or both feet!) from under the covers. Like Mama like baby! LOL

This was after my surgery in July....I couldn't pick her up, so mom and the boys had to bring her to me after I was sitting. She fell asleep on me, and naturally scooter her way down. :-)

Playing with Sensory Sam...LOVE that toy! :)

Mom took this picture of the three kids one afternoon....I just love it! :)

A good friend, Ruth, took these pics while they were watching Alivia one evening (we had a Youth Group activity that was outside and I didn't want Alivia in the cool night air...). In the first one, it's a normal look for her: with her whole fist in her mouth. Hehe. The second is just a cool look...it's her "who ME!?" look. The last one at the bottom is just a really great shot of her while having tummy time.

Life has not been the same since she arrived, and I'm still learning what our new normal is. It changes every week. She's a more fussy baby than either of the boys ever was, but I'm *told* by many that that is just part-n-parcel of having a girl: drama. :-) We shall see. I don't get much time to be on the computer anymore...between schooling the boys and having a baby to keep track of, life is just pretty much non-stop. I'm working harder around the house than I ever have before and I STILL don't get it all done. But, it will be there when I get back to it, right? :D

I love my daughter...I love our new family...I love how she makes me smile every morning as soon as she gets out of bed. She's ALWAYS ready with a smile for her brothers, her mommy, or her daddy! Welcome to our family, baby girl!

I will try to do another post soon that will have other pics from other activities from the last 5 months that the family/boys have been involved in. Hopefully, once I get caught up, I can do smaller posts to stay caught up! LOL

Till another time....

Marta's Legacy series by Francine Rivers

2010-10-08T14:52:00.001-05:00

I was fortunate enough to review these for LuxuryReading.com. Here are my reviews:

Her Mother's Hope by Francine Rivers

Reviewed by Amanda S.

In Her Mother’s Hope, Francine Rivers lays out the first two generations of a family that emigrated from Europe in the late 1800’s. Marta comes from a family that was abusive, strict, and hard-working. She vows to live a different life than the one she’s been dealt and sets off on her own at a very young age. Her mother kept telling her to “fly,” and so fly she did…all the way to Canada.

In Canada, Marta sets up her boardinghouse and meets her husband, who then moves her to America, but not without a fight. Marta doesn’t like the idea of doing what her husband tells her to do and so she fights it with all she has. Following the move, Marta gives birth to their second child, Hildemara Rose. Weak and ill from birth, Hildemara is a special child. But Marta refuses to coddle Hildie and is harder on her than on any of her other children. Rather than take these criticisms and turn them into a positive, Hildie internalizes the hurt and feels unwanted and unloved by her mother.

As Hildemara grows, she is determined to not allow her mother to bring her down and to live her life the way she wants to live it: serving others. Hildie becomes a nurse, marries, and starts a family of her own…only to become ill, forcing her to ask her mother for help. Will Marta come and help Hildemara or will she only push Hildie away like she’s always done?

Francine Rivers weaves another beautiful tale for us that comes partially from her own family history. We see the pain each character goes through, their joys, their triumphs, and their sorrows. In many ways we can see ourselves in the different characters. Have we been harder on one child than on the others, especially if it’s for their own good? Or have we coddled one child over another because they were weaker or needed more help? Have we, like Marta, been so adamant not to relive our childhood that we pushed ourselves to the opposite extreme, and became almost hateful in our dealings with our spouse or children?

Her Mother’s Hope ends rather abruptly and with a huge cliffhanger, much like Voice In The Wind (from The Mark of the Lion series by Rivers). The main character is on the brink of death, and we have to wait until the next book to find out what happens….which is months in coming! While not liking the cliffhangers in Francine River’s books, I will never turn down the opportunity to read one of her works! The second book, Her Daughter’s Dream, comes out in the fall of 2010.

For more information, please visit Francine Rivers’ website.

Her Daughter's Dream by Francine Rivers

Reviewed by Amanda S.

In Her Daughter’s Dream, Francine Rivers continues the family story of Marta, Hildemara Rose, Carolyn, and May Flower Dawn. Hildemara, Carolyn’s mother, returns home from the sanatorium to continue healing from tuberculosis, while Marta, the grandmother, moves in to take care of the family. Carolyn attaches herself to her Marta and the chasm between Hildemara and Carolyn begins. Over the years, the lack of communication causes that chasm to grow larger and larger. As Carolyn grows into adulthood, Hildie sees that her relationship with her daughter is getting worse, not better, but does not see a way to fix it.

When Carolyn comes home pregnant, Trip and Hildie do what they think is best for Carolyn, but end up hurting her in the process. Hildie takes it upon herself to be May Flower Dawn’s (Carolyn’s daughter) caretaker, thus creating another chasm between Dawn and Carolyn.

In her younger years, Dawn says and does some very hurtful things to Carolyn, but Carolyn is determined to have a better relationship with her daughter and keeps trying to improve it. After Carolyn marries Mitch, they move Dawn to a new home further away from Hildie, which causes Dawn to act out even more against her mother. Over the course of time, Mitch helps Dawn to become aware of the long standing family feud. When Dawn is married and on her own, she struggles to keep things in perspective where her mother and grandmother are concerned, but she’s determined to bridge the gap between them. With God’s help, she is able to do that, but at a very high cost.

Her Daughter’s Dream is just as good as the first book, Her Mother’s Hope. Rivers does a fantastic job weaving together multiple generations of a family to show us how we can hurt one another without intending to and how we struggle to deal with the ramifications. Simple words and simple misunderstandings left unresolved cause more hurt and sadness as the years go by; they don’t just go away.

I found myself relating to certain characters, laughing with them, and even getting mad and yelling at them at different points throughout the book. The characters are just so real that I was immediately drawn in and couldn’t wait to see what happened next.

Knowing this was a story loosely based on Francine’s own family history, Her Daughter’s Dream takes on even more meaning. The research she did and the things she learned about her own family truly made this book (and the one before it) a labor of love. It’s very obvious how much of herself Rivers put into these stories. These are definitely a set of books to have on your “keeper shelf!”

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I hope you check them out and read them...these are two really great books to read!

Tae Kwon Do Convention

2010-03-29T16:08:00.003-05:00

Last weekend, the boys got to go to the Moo Sul Kwan convention that was held in Cape...it was 3 days of working with Black Belts from around the state and from Colorado on different techniques, self defense, and other styles of the martial arts. This year, Grand Master Shin was able to be with us...he is apparently the highest ranking Judo belt in the country, so we were all pretty excited to see him! They started by dividing them all into groups by age and belt rank and then sending them to different classes to work on things. Here is Clayton working on an attack with a Black Belt from Colorado.

Here is Brent working with a Black Belt on defensive kicks, if you were stuck on the ground.

And more defensive kicks:

Here they were learning Judo and how to flip someone over your hip. Brent and his partner were having troubles, so a Black Belt came over and flipped Brent! LOL

Later in the day, Grand Master Shin was signing the kids' belts...we thought he was autographing them. But then we found out he was putting the kids' names on their belts in Korean!! SWEET!! So the boys, of course, wanted to be included in that! SO COOL!

At the end of Saturday, there was a banquet for any of the attendees who wanted to go. They handed out awards for schools and for upper ranking Black Belts, but they also honored Grand Master Shin and he spoke for a few minutes.

The boys had SOOO much fun and are still practicing (on each other!) the different moves they learned and perfecting what they can. They have both said they want to go next year as well.

Baby Update

2010-03-15T12:48:00.002-05:00

It's been a while since I updated and there are new things to share! :)

We saw the new doctor and chatted with her for just a short amount of time. Sadly, she was VERY "my way or the highway" about things and basically told me that she was not going to budge on any part of her "plan" and if we didn't want to give in to that, then she wouldn't be our doctor. ~sigh~ I left the building in tears (out of frustration) and Terry said to me, "I'm done with them...we won't be back." We made the decision to go back to our first OB and have a sit-down-heart-to-heart with her. I basically laid it out to her and told her how she was making me feel (stressed) and explained my position...she understood and ended up being more willing to work with me. She's still being very cautious, which is annoying, but if she's willing to work with me on things, I'm willing to work with her. =)

We had another ultrasound and found out that we're having a GIRL! ;) We're excited, but nervous at the same time...girls are SO different! LOL Now the task of picking out a name, since the name we've had picked out for a girl (for 13 years!) doesn't feel right to me. Terry's about to toss me out the window! LOL

We started construction on the basement this past weekend. Well, I say "we"...it was really Terry and his sister and BIL and a friend from church; then mom and dad and another friend from church came later in the day. They got all the exterior walls put up and one interior wall....Now Terry has to go back and finish the interior walls, the electrical (unless our church friend does the rest of it) and the dry wall. Then we have to get someone to do the flooring and the bathroom. There's still SOOOO much to be done.

I have officially started my last trimester...we have 13 weeks left to go. :) I'm getting more tired during the days and feeling like I need more rest....it's just so hard for me to nap in the day anymore. LOL

Our goal is to have school completely finished with the boys by the first week or so of May...so far, we're on track with that. I just hope we can do it! I'm not sure that I'll have all the grading done and time tallied at that point, but if that is all I have to worry about in May then I'll be doing pretty good! :)

Baby Update and Ultrasound

2010-02-08T13:14:00.003-06:00

So much has happened in the last 2 to 3 weeks! Baby is doing very well and growing nicely...I fell it move all the time now, which is so much fun. The boys are asking me nearly every week when THEY will be able to feel it on the outside...I just keep telling them that as soon as it happens I will let them know. :)

A couple weeks ago, we made the decision to change doctors mid-pregnancy. It was a tough decision we mulled over for 3 or 4 weeks before deciding anything. There were several factors that contributed to this decision, but all (but one) had to do with the dr stressing me out:

1) She was stressing me out with my sugar levels. She walked into the first appointment with me back in November and flat out told me that because of my weight, she just knew I was diabetic with my pregnancy and would treat me that way throughout. She had me see a nutritionist (which wasn't covered on my insurance) and had me taking my sugars 4 times a day....making me maintain a certain number (140) when the book she handed me to record them in said that a normal level was 170 or less. That just frustrated me, making me feel like I was being held to a different standard, just because of my weight. (Especially when gestational diabetes doesn't JUST hit over-weight women....it hits women of all heights, sizes, and shapes.) When I brought her my numbers at Christmas, she said, "You're doing good, but you need to do better.".....and that was when my numbers were at or below 140, with one or two at the 150-155 mark. :( I had gotten to the point with my diet and my sugars that I was so worried over it I wasn't enjoying anything...the pregnancy, meals with my family, etc.

2) She had me stressed over my blood pressure. She basically (at Christmas) said that I needed to prepare myself that I'd most likely be on bed-rest by the end of this pregnancy because of PIH (Pregnancy Induced Hypertension)....said the same thing as with my sugar (because of my weight I was guaranteed to have it). Well, my bp's in her office had all been FINE with once exception...and that one had a bottom number of 82, which granted is 'borderline' but is still fine considering it was Christmas Eve, we'd been running and packing for travel for those hours leading to that appointment, and I'd had 3 cups of coffee that morning! LOL

3) We were very unhappy with the information we received from their office. Back in December, I was sick and had gone to a quick care place and gotten medicine. I called the OB's office and let them know what I was on and they said it was fine. I called them about a month later to let them know I was still not well and what else could I do? I told them what I was taking for it (same thing they had "okayed" 4 weeks prior) and they about had a come-apart saying I couldn't take that medication! Well, which is it!?! (Come to find out different doctors have different opinions on it...some allow it and some don't.) But this came from two different nurses for the same OB, so they should have known what she wanted to do. Add to this the fact that she sent me to my family doctor for treatment...not knowing at all who she was passing me off too! How did she know he would know what to give (or not give, more importantly) a pregnant woman? (When I was pregnant with the boys, they OB told me that if I got sick I was to come to THEM, not anyone else.) Terry was very unhappy with the miscommunicated information regarding the medication and said if you can't even trust them when you call in then how can you trust what they tell you when you're there for treatment. Very frustrating.

Anyway, we have decided to switch to the old office we used for the boys....it's a different doctor, which has me a bit nervous, but we'll just do what we can. Our concern is that we're jumping from the frying pan into the fire when it comes to doctors, because we know NOTHING about this new one....but we are just going to trust God that we're doing the best thing we can.

Last Friday, we had our ultrasound and all is well. Baby is 1 lb 4 oz and growing well. We tried to find out the sex of the baby, but it was all curled up for the entire US, to the point that she had trouble getting some measurements. So, we weren't able to find out what it is and will just have to wait. We have an additional chance to find out...the place that did the US will do a free 3D one for us in a few weeks. The catch is that the last best time to see boy/girl is at 28 weeks and the best time for 3D is 32 weeks. The tech told us to just split the difference (30 weeks) and hope for the best...but she warned us that it's going to still be very possible to not find out. At 30 weeks, baby will be getting cramped for space and will still be curled up with feet tucked up, so it may hide itself then too. So, we'll just have to wait and see! The boys are a bit disappointed (well, they're VERY disappointed!) but I just told them that God is trying to teach us some patience and remind us of His sense of humor! ;) This is, after all, how life was for ALL pregnant women before ultrasound machines were invented! :-)

Below are some pics from the US. The first is the crown (top) of baby's head; the second is the heartbeat (150 bpm); the third is a face shot with the face on the left and abdomen on the right....if you look between and above the two of those, you will see a clenched hand.

The Sweet By and By by Sara Evans

2010-02-08T11:09:00.002-06:00

The Sweet By and By
by Sara Evans and Rachel Hauck

Jade Fitzgerald is getting married! After years of turning herself off to love, she finally found someone who will love her without questioning her past. They've agreed that everything that happened before they met was in the past and did not need to be brought up or discussed, and Jade was all too happy with the situation. But, things take a turn when Jade mails the wedding invitations and her mother, Beryl Hill, and Jade’s sister, Willow, show up three weeks early.

Jade’s past has been haunting her for years and causing panic attacks, but now everything is coming out in the open and making her realize that she won't be able to marry Max without first dealing with her past. Telling Max one part of the story leads to another part that she wants to keep buried…will she be able to keep it to herself? Can Max forgive her if she doesn’t feel God can forgive her? Can Jade forgive Beryl for leaving her when she needed her mother the most?

First-time author, Sara Evans, jumps in with both feet in her debut novel. Some first-time authors will start off with a safe topic and keep it all “happy,” but not Sara! She takes something that can destroy a person and turns it into a story of healing and forgiveness and love. Rachel Hauck (Georgia on Her Mind, Sweet Caroline, and Love Starts with Elle) co-authors The Sweet By and By with Sara.

At first, I was having trouble getting into The Sweet By and By; the novel was a bit slow getting started. However, about half-way through it just grabbed me and would not let go! From that point forward, I couldn’t wait to turn the next page and see what was said, what was done, and what surprise was held for me in the next chapter. This novel shows how, with God’s love, we can overcome any obstacle and be able to start fresh again.

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This review was done for LuxuryReading.com.

Fields of Grace by Kim Vogel Sawyer

2010-01-25T10:18:00.002-06:00

Reinhardt and Lillian decide to move their family from Russia to America in order to avoid the mandatory military service for their oldest son, Henrik. Reinhardt’s step-brother, Eli, decides to go with them and they all set out together across the ocean.

While on the open seas, sickness attacks several passengers of the ship and claims the life of Lillian's husband. At the same time, one of her children dies from an accidental fall and she is left wondering about how to go one with her life. Henrik feels that the deaths are his fault since they were only on that ship because they were fleeing Russia for him. Meanwhile, Eli proposes marriage as a matter of propriety and although Lillian accepts, she is still mourning the death of Reinhardt.

During the course of their journey across the American plains, they all learn about offering grace to those around them, while at the same time searching for and seeking grace for themselves. Eli has childhood scars he has to heal from, but he is as open and giving as any man could be to his “brother’s” family. Lillian struggles with showing grace to her children in their mourning, but also struggles with the peace within herself as she grows to love Eli in a way she never thought possible.

Can they each learn to find grace out on the open prairie with no other Mennonite villagers near them for help and guidance? How will they handle the devastating losses that come from farming in Kansas? What will they do when the others arrive in the spring?

Kim Vogel Sawyer’s Fields of Grace was truly touching for any reader. She dealt with many of the natural “human” feelings that we all struggle with from time to time, but in a way that seemed comforting and encouraging. Regardless of your situation in life, you can easily glean something about giving and receiving grace from this novel. I’m not normally a fan of Amish/Mennonite stories, but this one truly grabbed me from the beginning and had me till the very last page!

I reviewed this book for LuxuryReading.com.

Christmas 2009

2010-01-08T15:18:00.006-06:00

We ended up doing things a bit different than normal this year...we didn't stay home for Christmas morning. In order to maximize our time with Terry's family, we went to Salem on Christmas Eve (afternoon), but that was after having our own little Christmas at our house...with the kids giving us the gifts they had for us and the boys giving their gifts to each other. Oh yeah, and *Santa* visited our house and dropped off their stockings the night before too!

Clayton got Brent a new bow and arrow toy...they've both become obsessed with anything bow-and-arrow after watching Robin Hood Prince of Thieves within the last month. Brent got Clayton his very own Chess game. Brent has had one for a couple of years ever since my Dad taught him how to play, but Clayton has always had to just play with Brent's set. Well, we suggested to Brent that a chess set would be a very nice gift for Clayton...and obviously, Clayton LOVED it!

We went to Salem that afternoon and Santa visited Grandma Janice's house that night....Brent received Lego Indiana for the Wii (which they had rented and LOVED a few months ago) and a new Scrabble game (he's watched me play Scrabble on Facebook and has been asking to play).

Clayton received the movie he's been wanting for literally MONTHS: Beverly Hills Chihauhau...a really cute movie! He also got more additions to his collection of Littlest Pet Shops...not just one in the case, but more than 10!

After the Santa presents came their gifts "from Mom and Dad"...the first of which was Wii Sports Resort. Obviously Clayton is pretty excited about this one.... :-)

Next came the mysterious presents from us that weren't even in the room....what could they be???

....new .22 rifles!!! Clayton's first question was, "Is it a REAL real gun??" He just had to check to be sure if it was a toy or not!

Dad gave the first lesson about which way to point it, which shells go in which gun (they also got a 20-gauge shotgun, so there were two different kinds of bullets and they were trying to figure out which ones went to each gun).

Brent wanted to go out to the field and track animals and find something to shoot, so he and Terry bundled up and went out walking in the woods.

Later that weekend, we had Christmas with Janice's extended family and of course pictures were taken! Left to right is Janice, Tom, and Gwyneth. (The only sibling that is missing in Ruth Ann.)

All in all, it was a good weekend for all of us. We came home exhausted, but happy! We spent the next week (while we were *supposed* to be doing things around the house) playing the new Wii Games with the boys! LOL

Fun in the First Snow of the Winter!

2010-01-07T16:03:00.004-06:00

Well, it *finally* snowed last night...the kids were SO excited! It started while we were at church and after talking to our neighbor last night, we found out that it basically started right after we left and immediately packed in! On our way home last night, we got about 5 miles from our exit with just light flurries and then all of a sudden I started feeling the van just s-h-i-f-t from side to side. Eek! I slowed down to about 60 and tested the brakes and yep, it was slick! So, we slowed down (even more) and finished up that last few miles to our exit. Our exit, once we got there, was COVERED with snow and slicker than.....well, you know. :-) All the roads were completely covered...main roads, side roads, all of it. We already had probably an inch on the ground at that point. Terry decided to clean off his car and turn it around so he'd be 'facing the right direction' on the street for the next morning. (Normally, he has to go around the block to get out and it's on a hill that makes it harder for him when it's slick. Plus, the city will sometimes plow the streets in the night, covering and/or blocking his car in the process, making it harder to get out.)

This morning, we woke to only about 4 inches of snow total, but the wind was already blowing and making it miserable. Terry was able to get out and said things were slick, but it seemed people were being cautious (some overly so!) and things weren't too bad.

Brent literally flew through school this morning so they could go out and play! I've never seen him work so hard to finish up! LOL After eating lunch and bundling up, they went out to play:

Every time I turned around, Clayton was eating snow......

And eating more snow....

Of course, Brent ate snow, but he was constantly "laid out" in the snow...just laying there! I *must* be 'getting old' cuz I just can't see how he does that!!!

When he came in (about 20 minutes after Clayton and I!), I wanted to get a pic of him in all his snow covering....

We're happy to be stuck in the house for sure! We have a bowl of snow in the freezer and will be making Snow Ice Cream tonight for dessert! :) Can't wait!

Limelight by Melody Carlson

2009-12-17T12:33:00.003-06:00

Reviewed by Amanda Schafer

Claudette Fiore used to be one of those in the Limelight, but now she’s an older version of that person who has now been forced from her home by the IRS. She had it all: a mansion in Beverly Hills, a famous and wealthy husband, maids and servants to do things for her, invitations to parties and friends to shop with. But now, she has nothing, and feeling destitute, she would love to just end it all. However, it’s even worse than she thought. Her accountant has given her a budget that she must live under each month! How ever will she do it!? Thankfully, her stepson, Michael, comes over from Hawaii to help her out and give her a start back towards a more ‘normal’ lifestyle. When Claudette remembers that she is the heir to her mother’s house in northern California, Michael insists that she can make it there…and he’s willing to help her. Over the course of a few days, Michael transforms her childhood home into one that is “more to her liking.” But can she keep it up when she knows nothing about housekeeping and all those menial daily tasks?

Claudette is forced to begin relying on “normal people” in order to get through her first couple of weeks in which she runs out of money, has no heat, her plumbing explodes, and she practically burns down her house. What is it like to live like she is being forced to live? Claudette will soon find out….

Limelight by Melody Carlson isn’t quite a typical book from her. The book seems to be more “worldly” and speaks very little about God or a Christian lifestyle. Typically in Carlson’s books, there are one or two characters that are Christian and attempt to share their faith with the primary character, who is hardened toward all things “religion.” Then as the book progresses, we see a slow, but steady, shift in the heart of the character to an acceptance of Christ. However, in this book, we see Claudette only become slightly less haughty and self-righteous, rather than a complete transformation of her heart. There was very little “religion” spoken of throughout the book, but plenty of times to see how one can live a selfish and stuck-up life to the point of closing off herself from the rest of the world.

I personally didn’t care for this book by Carlson. I realize her books are considered “edgy Christian Fiction” but this one goes beyond being edgy and takes it almost completely out of the realm of “Christian Fiction.” I have enjoyed many of her other books (A Mile in My Flip Flops, These Boots Weren’t Made for Walking, and the Bloomberg series), but this was really hard for me to force myself to finish and left me very frustrated as a reader.

This review originally written for and published on LuxuryReading.com.

New Baby coming!!

2009-12-16T10:40:00.004-06:00

Well, we've announced it everywhere except here! LOL The newest addition to our family will be arriving in early June 2010...The boys are so extremely excited! Clayton wants a girl, Brent wants a boy...I just want a healthy baby! (Although, a boy would be easier since we already have all the stuff for a boy...a girl would certainly be nice too! LOL)

YAY!

I've added a 'baby countdown ticker' to the top left of our blog here so you can keep track along with us!

White Picket Fences by Susan Meissner

2009-11-16T11:15:00.003-06:00

Blog Tour and Giveaway: "White Picket Fences" by Susan Meissner

Reviewed by Amanda S.

In White Picket Fences, Neil and Amanda Janvier feel obligated to take in the daughter of Amanda’s estranged brother. Tally was staying with her grandmother when she passed away suddenly, and Tally finds herself with nowhere to go since her dad is out of the country and hasn’t contacted her. What will it be like living with her Aunt Amanda? Will they force her to tell why her dad went to Europe, a secret she promised to keep?

Do I want to know the truth of what happened all those years ago? If I find out the truth, how will it change me? These are the questions that Chase Janvier is asking himself regarding an incident that happened when he was four years old. Not knowing what to do, Chase keeps his secret to himself. That is, until Tally shows up at their house. Tally can tell that something isn’t right about Chase after they start working together on a Holocaust project. They interview two Holocaust survivors in a nearby nursing home and Tally notices Chase reacting oddly to certain parts of the story they are being told.

Amanda also begins to notice some pretty dramatic changes in Chase that cause her to wonder if he really does remember what happened all those years ago. But if he remembered, he would tell them, wouldn’t he? Should she ask him about it? What kind of damage would she do if she brings it up and he really doesn’t remember? Clearly, though, something is wrong and Amanda just doesn’t know what to do or which direction to turn.

Will they all be able to handle the truth when all the secrets are revealed?

As always, Susan Meissner does a wonderful job weaving a tale of deception, secrets, and twisted paths. The characters in this story have a serious problem with trust…trust in each other and trust in God, which unnerved me throughout the story. When I first picked up this book, I was intrigued by the cover: a white picket fence with a cobweb near the top. It’s so easy for people to look like they have it all-together on the outside with their pretty houses and white picket fences. But on the inside, all families have secrets and cobwebs hiding from the real world.

I always enjoy reading books my Meissner, and White Picket Fences was no different. Her books always challenge a person to really take a hard look at themselves, deep inside, to discover their true character. She caused me to ask myself how I would handle the truth if some long-ago family secret was revealed to me? Would I let it weigh me down or would I allow it to cause me to grow as a person?

This review originally written for and published on LuxuryReading.com.

Grant's Farm - Family Trip

2009-11-03T15:13:00.003-06:00

This year, in lieu of taking a family vacation (which we had neither the time nor the money to do), we decided to do a few smaller things as a family in the month of September. One of our first things we did was to go to Grant's Farm in St Louis, where Ulysses S. Grant lived for a time.

The first part of the day when you walk into the park is a 'tram ride'--sort of a tour of the grounds. These swans were on a pond that we passed...I just *love* swans. :)

At the end of the tram ride is the center of the park where the animals are. This is the entrance to that area.

When you walk through here, the first thing you see on your left is the goat feeding area. Oh. My. Goodness. There are sooo many goats!! We decided to do the 'day pass' for each of the boys, where they would get to feed the goats twice, get a snow cone, and ride the carousel. We fed the first of our goat bottles the very first thing, as the boys were so excited about it. Well, when it came time to actually get IN the goat pen, Clayton decided he didn't want to! LOL There were just so many goats and they were just clamoring for the milk. So, Terry put him on his shoulders, but as you can see, that didn't really keep him 'safe'. LOL This goat decided to get up on Terry and drink the milk right at C's 'shoe level', which kinda freaked him out!

Brent had a blast feeding the goats...they were trampling all over him trying to get the milk, but he just had one bottle. One of the goats (below right) just decided to start eating Brent's shorts since he couldn't get the milk! ROFL (Actually, by the look of the goats eyes, he almost looked like he couldn't see very well, so I'm not sure he really knew what he was going after....)

There were these massive turtles (er, tortoises) out in there little area...you can see how big they were compared to the boys...and you can see how close the kids were to the animals.

They stopped to watch this elephant and were just really intrigued by it. (I have NO idea who those other two kids were....)

There was a 'wild bird show' that we went to and they did this little "Rat Race" with these kids. They brought out 2 rats and had the kids stand holding hands, then they let the rats go to race across the kids' arms/shoulders. Well.... Ewww. The rats went INSIDE the shirts of these kids when going across!! I told the boys it was a good thing they didn't get called on cuz we would have BURNT those shirts!!!

This was their carousel ride....why, oh why, does Brent have to make those funny faces when I take his pic??? LOL

At the end of our day, we got their snow cones and sat at the table in the 'vending area'...the boys' tongues and teeth turned the color of their slush, so of course they had to make funny faces while their mouths looked funny anyway. :)

On the other side of the parking lot was the Clydesdale stables, so we toured through there right before we left. It was feeding time for the horses, so we mostly just got rear-end-shots. :( But a very nice lady saw us snapping a couple shots of the boys by the statue and offered to take a family shot. So....just for 'you know who you are'....a family photo of us utterly exhausted LOL :

Bug Trap

2009-11-03T14:54:00.004-06:00

One night while I was fixing dinner, Terry came out of the bathroom and said, "You need to go look at the bug trap someone made for you." See, with the cooler evenings we've had the window open and the attic fan on, and we had this hole in the screen of our bedroom window. So, someone decided to 'cover' the hole so that bugs wouldn't get in.

Well, after supper that night, I walked down the hallway and into my room and just started giggling. This is what I saw:

My two Vicks bottles and my Melatonin bottle all stacked on each other with a little fruit cup on top. You can see that he had a water bottle there and that he tried that...there were other bottles and things from my nightstand that he had tried to use.

And if you look at the second image, at the top of the hole, there is a little moth that he caught inside the fruit cup.

Very creative! :)

End of Summer 2009

2009-10-05T14:04:00.006-05:00

So much happened at the end of the summer this year! The boys were both in ball (Clayton in T-ball, Brent in coach pitch) and they both had team pictures done. I wasn't able to get Brent's the day they did it, but I got Clayton's. Below is his team with their medals:

In July, they had their tournament for TKD and this is the picture taken in class of the trophies that were won that day:

In August, some friends of ours from church went with us to Salem and we spent some time fishing and driving around the farm. Sooo much fun. Brent, of course, was the best fisherman of the day! He caught something nearly every time he cast his line into the pond. Below is a pic of the first fish he got to keep that day and the three boys with their stringer of fish at the end of the afternoon.

This was the ONLY fish I caught that day. That is NOT my kind of fishing! LOL However, it was made-up-for by the fact that I *did* catch a snapping turtle. :-D We were able to get it out of the pond and Terry and Ron cut it's head off. (Science, anyone??? LOL) The kids were fascinated by the fact that even after its head was removed, the turtle would still continue to walk when turned over onto its feet. :-) Ya gotta love those involuntary muscles and nerves!

Terry made us all clean up brush from around the pond before we were able to fish. LOL If we hadn't, there would have been too much brush to even get to the pond bank in order to fish! So at the end of the day, I had the kids stand in front of their brush pile with their fish so I could get a picture. Then in the back of the truck, Brent wanted a closeup shot of his stringer of fish, since he caught all but 2 of them! LOL

After we got done fishing, we decided to go see the cows. Clayton and T were standing up in the back of the truck looking through the cab out into the field. LOL Just too cute not to take a picture of them! Then later, while we were parked and talking about the cows and feeding them some cubes, I got a shot of the boys sitting side-by-side on the tailgate of the truck.

On Sunday, we left right after lunch and headed back home for Pew Packers/Bible Bowl practice. Obviously, the weekend was a success, cuz Clayton was just *wiped out*, which is evident by how he was sleeping, even after the other three kids had climbed over him to get out and go inside! LOL

Summer Zoo Trip with the Youth Group

2009-10-05T14:02:00.001-05:00

Back in July, the youth group at church took a trip to the zoo in St Louis. What fun! It was a loooong day, but the kids had a blast! This was their pose of silliness on the way up there.

When we were almost done with all the walking we were gonna do, we were in the middle of a section of the zoo that only had 'one way' out. We decided to sit and rest for just a bit and the kids decided to get their maps out and try to figure out 'how to get us out of here'. LOL Course, we knew there was only one way to go, but it gave us an excuse to take a break!

At the very end of the day, we were by the gate and they wanted to climb on the seal statue. I thought a nice pic was in order! LOL So here they are....looking exhausted but still having fun.

Quick update...

2009-07-15T15:00:00.002-05:00

Well, it's now July and I haven't done ANY new posting in nearly a month! Wow. Just amazing how quickly time flies and how very LITTLE computer time I have for these types of things (blogging, email, etc).

Last month (end of June) brought my birthday (I'm now a whopping 31!!), which ended up lasting 4 or 5 days! Mom and dad came down and took us out for my birthday/Father's Day..went to Lamberts! YUM!

The very last week of June and first two days of July were spent at VBS... a VERY long week, but so very worth it! I got to teach the nursery class and really enjoyed getting to know a couple of our babies there. I'd forgotten how much I truly love to teach the baby class. The boys really enjoyed VBS and came home each night talking about what they learned, and at one point even debating on who's teacher told the story right! LOL

The weekend of the 4th, we went to Salem and spent the weekend...very nice weekend. Brent got to learn how to set off fireworks this year... Eeek! He did a really good job and I just stayed out of the way. Got a couple good pics that I will have to share soon.

Friday the 10th, we went to the zoo with our youth group. Wow...what a trip! There were 40-50 people from church that went to the zoo and while we went our separate ways within the zoo, we all ate lunch together in a little grassy area outside the zoo. We really had fun and the kids were all soooo good! Again, more pictures to come...probably within their own post. I got some REALLY good shots at the zoo!

Then the next morning on the 11th, the boys had a Tae Kwon Do Tournament in Cape. They both did really well... Brent got 2nd in Form and 3rd in Sparring; Clayton got 1st in Form and 1st in Sparring! :) They were both really happy...Clayton especially, as it was difficult to peel him off of my arm when we got there. :s Brent was a little disappointed, cuz he wanted to do better than he did, but we've talked about that and plan on having him talk with his teachers (black belts) to get some ideas on what he can do to improve and also ideas on what he can do when the other person is sparring in a certain way. Hopefully, he will do better next time. :)

This week (and next) Janice is here with us to go to some ball games and to see the TKD stuff. The boys are really enjoying their time with Grandma Niecey and have already played about 100 games of Canasta. (I'm so sick of that game, I'm ready to hide the cards!!)

Therapy continues as normal....Clayton has had some going backwards emotionally, but according to the testing they are doing periodically, he's going in the right direction brain-wise. So we'll just have to see how things continue. Brent should be done with his therapies by the end of this month, while Clayton will continue for a couple weeks after that.

That about covers it for now. Hopefully, I can find some time to do pictures and commenting soon!

A Past-Dated Updated

2009-06-03T13:13:00.009-05:00

**NOTE: This post is dated 6-3-09, simply cuz that's when I actually WROTE it, it's just taken me till now (6-18) to get it actually posted! *sigh* Life is busy....
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It’s been a while since I’ve been here to truly update….I haven’t had the time to sit and type! I *thought* I would be able to do some of my blogging during the boys’ therapy sessions with Dr Worth, but I’ve had other things to get done during those times. Well, that has changed a bit….

The boys’ therapies have been going well. Things started out a bit rough for Clayton…he was tiring out before they could finish and he wasn’t doing very well when he was doing it. So they decided to give him a ‘break’ in between each section, thinking that just some downtime (and being able to reconnect with me for a moment) would help him, and it did. He was able to complete all of his Interactive Metronome exercises in the hour. However, they dropped off the Brain Play game (where they *think* the play moves instead of having a controller in their hand). This has worked really well for the last couple of weeks and last week, Clayton was able to do 2 of his 3 IM exercises without a break….so PROGRESS! :-) Brent has been doing all of his each time and seems to be doing really well with all parts of it. He takes a ‘drink break’ about half way through and that seems to do it for him. He’s doing both the IM and the Brain Play stuff.

Last week, they got their Hemi-Stim glasses, which are blue-lensed glasses that have LED lights that blink/flash in a certain pattern. They are to wear these for 5 mins, 2-3 times a day…gradually working up to 20-25 minutes a day. We’re told that these are things they will do at home even after the therapy here stops…so this is something that is long-term. (And let me tell you…you do NOT want to have to pay for these glasses! They are EXPENSIVE!) We have a metronome ordered (and on its way to us) right now…that’s another part of their home-work that we’ll be doing each day. I’m not sure yet exactly what that will entail, but I will share when I know.

We had a very busy month of May….with 2 college graduations and 1 wedding. The second graduation we went to, we sorta skipped out on cuz it was SO over-crowded. Plus, Clayton simply wasn’t handling the situation very well….WAY over-stimulating for him. So, we went and walked around UMR campus (where Terry went to college). He showed the boys the different buildings and we found MANY opportunities for good photo shots! :-) It was really a good afternoon that we got to have together as a family….

AND, I learned out to parallel park! LOL I know that sounds silly to some people but I never learned when I was in driver’s ed. And so I was terrified of parallel parking…and would drive around and around blocks to find a spot that was either 2 car-lengths (those I could handle!) or that wasn’t parallel parking. A couple of times in Cape, I would be driving and we’d get in a spot where I’d have to parallel park and I couldn’t, so (rather than get out of the van and do Chinese firedrill), Terry would park for me from the passenger seat! LOL Yeah, I know…not smart, but it’s pretty amazing that he could do that! Anyway, we found a couple of different spots on campus that I could practice on and I was able to parallel park 3 different times. Now, does that mean I can do it in Cape when there are other cars driving past me making me nervous? Not sure. Haven’t tried yet. But at least now I have the idea down. :)

So here are some of the shots we got while on campus that day:

First, we took the boys to Stone Henge and let them play around and learn a bit about it:

They got to running and jumping from each of these surrounding rocks...so I decided to try to capture them mid-air. Kinda fun...

This was just a good shot of Clayton...one of his moments when he was sitting still...

Later, after me learning to parallel park, we walked around through some of the buildings and the 'courtyard' area...

The boys playing on the "Big Clover Leaf" and with their Daddy

For some reason, I was fascinated with 'air shots' that day!

Finally, as we were walking I just found some really good posing areas:

The week after the gradauation, was the first of the two weddings. It was a really nice wedding….if you don’t count the lighting, thunder and rain in the middle of it all! LOL The boys had a blast running through the rain and playing with the umbrellas. But they had even more fun at the reception/dance! They danced with just about everyone….at least Brent did. I think he sought out each lady-person in the family and danced with them…including me! Clayton was happy to dance with someone, dance alone, dance in a group….he didn’t care. As long as he was dancing. But when he got tired, he was DONE. He sat down on the floor and just wouldn’t move again till we told him it was time to go. We have the last of the two weddings (and the last of our weekend running for a while!) this coming Satuday. But the boys are both looking forward to this reception too…more for the dance than anything else. LOL Brent is especially happy, cuz he learned the two-step at the last one and now he wants to practice it more.

Here is a couple of shots of the cakes that Terry's sister did...beautiful!

After the dinner, the dance began...and like I said, the boys had fun!

Clayton kept going back to dance with Maggie (the bride)

But then, he'd dance by (and spin) himself too...

They 'group danced' with their cousins and of course learned the 'Helicopter' from Nathan! LOL

They had their own moves...

But then Brent learned the two-step from ReVay. (and yes, those are droplets of water on my camera lens...leftover from the rain earlier that day.)

And, finally, Janice was able to dance with Cory...so nice. :-)

T-Ball/Baseball is going okay. We’ve had a LOT of rainouts, which has definitely put a damper on Brent’s mood. Out of the last month, he was supposed to have 3 games and 2 practices…..4 out of those 5 were canceled due to rain or muddy fields. He handled the first couple okay, but this last one really got him down. He just couldn’t understand why the rain wanted him to not play! LOL He has another game this Thursday, and we’ll see if he gets to have it or not. For the one game that he did get to play, he scored his first run and also had his first RBI for the season. So he was pretty happy with that one…plus he’s on a ‘yellow’ team, which he’s really proud of cuz he likes yellow so much. The good thing is that when they have a canceled game (or a night when a game isn’t scheduled) they can go to TKD, which is nice cuz they have a tournament coming up for that on July 11. :-)

Last week, I decided to switch our therapy appointments from Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday to Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Wednesdays are just WAY too much for me to handle, what with teaching class. I don’t think it was so much the idea of needing to study and get ready for the class as it was the fact of running to STL (75 miles north)and back in the early afternoon, trying to get dinner, refresh for my class, and then driving down to Jackson (25 miles south) for worship. It was just too stressful for me to be able to cope with emotionally and mentally. I know, I’m weird. I was finding myself unable to concentrate or focus by the time I got to class. So I’m hoping that by switching to a different day and having all of Wednesday to be home I won’t feel that type of stress on Wednesdays. I hope. :)

We got part of our garden done this weekend. I say ‘we’…it was really mostly Terry and Brent that did it. They built a contraption to hold our upside-down-hanging tomatoes and cucumbers. It only took them about 3 ½ hours to get the whole thing built and then on Sunday Terry put the plants into the pots (minus 3 of the tomatoes, which I did cuz he said he was mutilating the plant to get it through the whole at the bottom of the pot). So now we’ll see how these work for us. Perhaps I can post pictures of his little contraption...it's really quite creative...

Well, that's it for this update....I'm tired. LOL I have more to tell, since it's now the middle of June...the second wedding and more therapy information. YAY! :) Hopefully it won't be JULY before I get that one done!

Recent Funnies...

2009-05-30T22:40:00.003-05:00

Last weekend, we were in Salem for a wedding and while eating breakfast, Terry's mom had put some preserves on the table. Well, Brent was proceeding to put some on his toast and Janice said, "You're not putting enough of it on there! You need more than that!" To which, Brent replied, "No, cuz jelly is sugar and I don't need that much sugar. I can taste it and it's fine." Of course, she had Sugar Free jelly, so she proceeded to tell him that it was okay to eat more cuz it was sugar free. *eyeroll* Brent just did his own thing. No biggie. But we started talking about ingredients (and he LIKES to look at and read the labels on things) and so he started reading the ingredient list to us:

WATER**, STRAWBERRIES+, POLYDEXTROSE**, MALTODEXTRIN**, FRUIT PECTIN, LOCUST BEAN GUM**, NATURAL FLAVOR **, CITRIC ACID, POTASSIUM SORBATE (PRESERVATIVE), SUCRALOSE (NON NUTRITIVE SWEETENER)**, CALCIUM CHLORIDE**, RED 40**.

He got the 'water, strawberries' okay. Polydextrose he sorta fumbled through. Then he got stuck on maltodextrin and just stopped reading and said, "Oh, so this must be where they started writing it in a foreign language." ROFLMBO! We laughed so hard at his little comment, that was made in ALL seriousness. But how true is it???
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Last night Terry informs me that due to a miscalculation on the part of someone he works with, there was a truck coming in and no one would be there to meet it. So, of course, he volunteered to meet the truck. At 4 AM!! *sigh* He got the call when the guy was close to Perryville and said he'd meet him there. So he gets up and gets dressed and leaves for the plant. This morning he informs me that thanks to his being out in the middle of the night, we now have a dead mole in our driveway. ???!?!?!?

Apparently, as he was walking down the driveway, something darted out in front of him from the van tire. He just instinctively kicked it and sent it sailing about 5 or 6 feet. LOL Not knowing if it was dead or not, and based on the size thinking it was a field mouse, he went over to stomp on it. (I know...G.R.O.S.S.) Well, apparently, he raised his right foot up so high that he gained momentum on the 'up swing' and it ended up causing his left foot to leave the ground too and when his right foot came down ON the critter, rather than 'smashing' it, it just rolled. And with the momentum he had and the rolling motion of one foot, then both feet went sailing out from underneath him...and yep, he landed on his butt. (Of course, the boys thought the telling of this story was captivating, but when Terry got to this part, I thought the boys were gonna fall off my bed, they were laughing so hard!)

So the boys went out to see the mole...while I did some online looking for information about it. We had a science lesson! LOL We talked about WHY their bodies are so hard (to the point of 'rolling' when someone stomps on them...) and why their hands are SO HUGE. Their hands are almost comical in how disproportionate they are to the rest of the body. We learned quite a bit about moles... Brent measured this one...it was almost 7 inches long, and the average mole is about 5 1/2 inches long. So this was either a monster mole, or an old one.

What's really odd is that we've seen NO mole tracks in our yard. So we're thinking he just was out venturing for food or whatever, but can't find anything that would tell us how far from their homes or normal tunnel area they would travel.

Very strange, but very comical. :)
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I have much much more to update on from the past month. Hopefully I can work on that while the boys are in therapy this week and then I can just post it all at once! But right now, it's just past 11 PM on a Saturday night and I have to get some sleep!

When life gets busy

2009-05-11T15:48:00.002-05:00

A couple weeks ago, the boys were in Oklahoma for a week, spending the week with my sis and her family. They got to fly on an airplane (for the first time) and really really loved it. They had a lot of fun while they were there, but I know they were certainly glad to be home. LOL And I was truly glad to have them home. It’s nice to get away but it’s really nice to get home. We drove out there at the end of the week for a dual purpose. 1) to get the boys, but 2) to go to a college graduation for a nephew.

The night of the graduation, we went to dinner with the family to celebrate (and what a GREAT place…..Bourbon Street Café! YUM!) and as we were leaving, I (stoopidly!) didn’t remember that there was a step to get into the restaurant, meaning I would have to step DOWN to get out of the restaurant. L Naturally, I fell coming out and twisted my ankle in the process. (I can’t feel too bad, Brent fell too….) Well, of course, there were about 5 people walking by at the same time as me falling, and they just looked at me and said, “Ooo, I bet that hurt!” Ya think???? Of course, I laughed it off and said I was fine. Terry was there with me and was making sure I was okay….he tried to help me up (good husband that he is) and I was so embarrassed and in pain that I kinda bit his head off (which I later apologized for!) and just got up on my own. Oooooo, it hurt. I got to J’s and got my shoe off and it was swelling. L But the fact that I had to walk nearly ½ mile to get to the car was probably a huge help for it…. *sigh* Hello. I’m Amanda and I’m a klutz.

Well, due to there being a congregational meeting at church that Sunday, we decided to leave on Saturday evening to drive home…we didn’t leave OKC till 7:12 Saturday night….we made it home at 3:02 AM, with a 30 minute stop in Springfield. Yes, I flew. Hello. I’m Amanda and my nickname is Mario Andretti.

We went to worship the next morning and stayed for potluck and the meeting and then came home and crashed. Literally. We slept and didn’t wake up….well, we missed church that night. But we had gone on very little sleep in the previous 3-4 days, so I know we needed it.

The next day (Monday) started our therapies in St Louis for the boys with Dr Worth’s office. Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday each week now we will be driving to St Louis and the boys will be getting their therapies. So far, we haven’t been given our ‘home work’ to do on the other 3 days of the week, but I’m told that will start soon. They want to get the boys going on the beginning parts of it and then add things slowly. We’re at the office for about an hour (for now) each time we come up. (In fact, I’m sitting in one of the consult rooms as I type this while the boys are doing their thing.)

I’m trying to find the positives in all this…this 3 hours a week of me being able to do nothing but sit in the office. I’m trying to use this time to work on my Ladies class Bible study. Last week, I used part of the time to organize pictures for National Scrapbook Day this past Saturday. I used another day to work on typing in recipes for people on Facebook that have asked for them. (I’ll also post them here.) I will most likely bring up some crocheting this week too, to make the wash cloths I’ve promised as a prize for the American Idol contest I’m a part of each year on PaperbackSwap.com. I can make one wash cloth in about 2-3 hours, so I figure between the next week or so and perhaps weekends, I can get them done with no problem. (Fact is, I’ve procrastinated terribly about this…I promised them as a prize before AI started this season, so it’s my own fault for not having them done yet.) It’s just so hard to spend 2 ½ to 3 hours a day in the van (driving) and not get tired. I decided last week to get a couple books on CD so we could listen to them as we drive. We started one today…I’ll write a review when we’re done with it. Hopefully I can find more that are appropriate for the boys to hear….there just aren’t that many at our library! LOL (So if anyone has any suggestions for some good ones that are free, please let me know!!)

Last Friday was a bit wild for us. Well, for me and the boys at least. We had what I've heard some call a hurricane come through our area! LOL I know it was really a tornadic system, but there've been some reports of the winds being hurricane strength and the fact that the tornado around our area was so large in size and never touched down is making them call this one differently. The boys and I had errands to run on Friday morning, but there were a couple of storms then, so we waited till the radar looked clear. We first went to the library and only spent about 30 minutes there (where Brent decided to do some reading and a report on "gold" so we looked for books on that subject!) and as we were leaving the library, the sirens went off. So we're driving through town and I'm trying to figure out the best place to go, while C is in the back seat saying "I wanna go home...I wanna go home" and B is there saying, "Mom, you gotta find somewhere." "Mom, where you gonna go?" "Mom?" !!!!! I was frantically trying to find my cell phone to call Terry, but no luck there. Then I was going down main street and saw a tree had blown over and then right in front of me, one of those white plastic lawn chairs was spinning in circles about a foot off the ground. I knew then I HAD to find somewhere to go. So we hid out in the eye dr's office! LOL We were there when the electricity went out and stayed about 30 minutes. After we left, we worked our way across town to go home (No one had electricity in the whole town, which is odd in itself, and so no businesses were open. There was no point in staying out in the fray.) and passed many many trees that were down...blown over from the roots up. Large trees. Old trees. Truly astonishing. There were bits of roofs all over the place and our wonderful people in town were standing around taking pictures instead of helping people! Ugh. Ya gotta love po-dunk towns.

Anyway, we got home (after having to take 2 detours cuz of the trees across the roads) and found that we only had one shingle off the house and sticks and debris in our yard. There was grass and leaves literally plastered to the siding of the house, but no other damage. Of course, we didn't have electricity, but that's no big deal. Or so we thought! LOL Our electricity didn't come back on until 9:30 that night! But it did us good to have no light....no TV, no radio, no Wii, nothing. Just us and ourselves. LOL We went out to dinner, of course, and the restaurants were packed. But even that was dealable.

This week, we also have TKD and ball practice for C, and B has his first baseball game on Thursday (actually, it’s the second, but the first one was rained out). Well, this will be our schedule for the next several weeks, but whatever. We’ll get used to it! This weekend, we also have Cory’s college graduation, so we’re traveling to Salem. I’m kinda looking forward to it….we’ve not been in in quite a few weeks, but I know that Clayton isn’t gonna enjoy it as much as he normally would, simply due to the constant traveling and being away from home these last couple of weeks. I’ll just have to really watch him and make sure that he gets some ‘down time’ with me each day to refocus. It will all be well.

I told terry the other night that I feel like a ‘working woman’….I feel like I have a part time job right now. We’re never home and I’m planning my meals out well in advance, plus I’m having to plan my cleaning and laundry as well. I’m just not used to that! LOL I’ve always respected the many working moms/wives, but it’s been so long since I’ve done it that I’ve forgotten how to do it. Plus I don’t think I did that good of a job when I did it before, anyway. LOL It’s just so hard to keep it all clean and be gone all the time…when what we want to do when we’re home is crash and go to bed! LOL Oh well, we’ll adjust!

Time to go….they are done with therapy. Time to get back in the van and drive home so we can continue with this day. Maybe I can get some house cleaning done to get caught up on the mess that was created over the weekend!

Hello. My name is Amanda and I'm exhausted. :-)

Requested Recipies

2009-05-11T15:45:00.002-05:00

Recently, I began my 3-month meal planning strategy and posted here about it...also posted about it on Facebook. Well, I had many who requested some of those recipes, and after finally getting them posted over there, I decided to post them here too in case anyone else could benefit from them! ;)

Almond Chicken

2 c rice
½ T Butter
½ chopped onion
Chopped celery
3 c. cooked chopped chicken breast
1 c mayo
1 c cream chicken soup (small can)
½ c. slivered almonds
Crushed cornflakes and butter

Make rice and set aside. Sauté onion and celery. Combine chicken, rice, onion and celery in casserole dish. Stir in mayo and soup, then almonds. Top with cornflake mixture. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Creamy Broccoli Chicken

1 can cream of broccoli soup
1 bag chicken breast (frozen, skinless, boneless)
1 bag frozen broccoli
1 cup milk

Place chicken breasts in crock pot and cover with frozen broccoli and soup. Cook for a few hours. Add milk during the last 30-45 minutes of cooking time. Serve over rice.

Ravioli Lasagna

Frozen Cheese Ravioli (need between 1 and 2 bags)
Spaghetti sauce (either jarred or homemade…)
Hamburger, cooked and drained
Mozzarella cheese

Cook ravioli according to package directions and drain. Add meat to sauce and warm through. Layer meat sauce, ravioli, and small amount of moz cheese in casserole dish. Repeat until dish is full. Top with meat sauce and a layer of cheese. Bake at 400 for 30 minutes until bubbly….let set for about 10 minutes and serve with garlic bread.

**The cheese ravioli takes care of two steps here…the noodles and the ricotta cheese mix. It’s not perfect like regular lasagna, but is a good quick version. Terry says it's not as good as my homemade regular lasagna, but he'll take it when he has to. LOL

Ritzy Chicken

2 sleeves Ritz Crackers
1 can cream chicken soup
1 c sour cream
½ c chicken broth
4-6 cooked and diced chicken breasts
4 oz melted butter

Crumble 1 sleeve crackers and pour in casserole dish. Drizzle with ½ of the melted butter. Combine chicken, soup, sour cream and broth; pour over crackers. Repeat bottom layer on top. Bake for 30-40 minutes at 300 degrees.

Cheesy Chicken

6-7 chicken breasts (about 1 3-lb bag frozen)
Salt, pepper garlic powder
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 can cheddar cheese soup

Put chicken in crock pot and cover with soup mix. Cook several hours until done.
Serve with rice or noodles.

Chicken Rice w/ Green Beans

3 lb bag frozen chicken breasts
1 can cream chicken soup
1 can cream mushroom soup
2 cans water
1 package dry onion soup mix
Frozen veggies (carrots, peas, corn, beans, etc)

Place veggies in crock pot on bottom. Cover with chicken. Mix liquids and pour over chicken. Cook for several hours, until chicken is done. Serve with rice.

Nacho Cheese Chicken

3 lb bag frozen chicken
1 can diced tomatoes in juice
1 can nacho cheese soup
1 small can green chiles

Place chicken on bottom of crock pot and pour combined ingredients over top. Cook till chicken is done, serve over noodles.

Aroz con Pollo

4 chicken breast halves (or 6-7 skinless boneless chicken breasts; about a 3 lb bag)
1 onion
1 small red pepper
Garlic
Rosemary
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 bag frozen peas

Place chicken in crock pot. Mix all other ingredients but peas and pour over chicken. Cook till chicken is done. About one hour before ready to serve, thaw peas and add to mix. Allow to cook that one hour and serve over rice.

Italian Chicken Spaghetti

1 can tomato sauce
6-7 chicken breasts (1 3 lb bag)
1 sm can tomato paste
3 T water
Garlic
Oregano
4 oz mozzarella cheese

Put chicken in crock pot and cover with sauce mix. After cooked, remove chicken and stir in cheese to melt. Serve chicken and sauce over hot spaghetti noodles.

Chicken Cacciatore

1 lg onion, thinly sliced
3 lb bag chicken breasts
2 cans tomato paste
4 oz sliced mushrooms
Garlic and oregano and celery seed

Place onions in crock pot and cover with chicken. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over chicken. Cook for several hours till chicken is done and serve over hot noodles.

King Ranch Casserole

1 can cream chicken soup
1 can cream celery soup
1 can cheddar cheese soup
1 can Rotel
1 onion, chopped
5-6 (or more) cooked chicken breasts, diced
1 bag Doritos chips

Mix chicken with canned ingredients and pour in casserole dish. Bake for about 20 minutes until bubbly. Crush Doritos and pour over during the last 10 minutes….watch that the Doritos don’t burn, because they will burn quickly! :)

3 Months of Meal Planning

2009-04-29T14:02:00.002-05:00

I have taken the time to organize our calendar for the next 3 months and here is a bit of what I have. :)

I have them all written on the calendar, including several that are 'new' to us. I'd be happy to share recipes for anything you'd like! :) I'm listing the meals and basically just know that I am rearranging them each month so that we only have *most* of them one time per month. (I say *most* cuz "Hamburger Helper" is on each month a couple times, simply cuz we LOVE it! LOL There's a particular flavor that my boys really like and it's a pretty cheap meal for us. :))

Each of these meals is written on a 3z5 card that is tucked away in a drawer. When I need to meal-plan, I just pull out this stack and randomly pull meals from the stack and stick them on a calendar. Then when it's time to grocery shop for that week, I look at what's on the menu and pull those cards out and write down what I need from the store for them. That way it serves 2 purposes: 1) I know I will have everything on hand when it's time to cook it and 2) shopping is much easier cuz I've taken the time to make a good list, therefore not as much impulse buying...saving me money! :)

Now, I was asked "what happens when you get to a meal and don't feel like cooking it that night?" No biggie. For me (typically) I will simply bump that night's dinner to another night that week ...and basically swap them. But I still have to cook that original dinner sometime that week. (I say typically, cuz for us right now these will be what HAS to be cooked for those particular nights due to schedule situations. If we're gonna be out all day, I will need a meal that is crock-pot-able. LOL)

Also, if it's a Crock Pot recipe or an item that I will use the Crock Pot for, I'm putting a "CP" by it....

Sloppy Joes
Stroganoff
Beef Pot Pie (homemade)
Turkey breast (CP)
Spaghetti
Foil Packets
Almond Chicken (CP)
Ravioli
Lasagna
Tater Tot Casserole
Creamy Broccoli Casserole
Cheesy Chicken (CP)
Cube Steaks
Ritzy Chicken
Pork Roast (CP)
Chicken Rice with Green Beans (CP)
Burritos
Taco Salad
Nacho Cheese Chicken (CP)
Aroz con pollo (CP)
Chicken Cacciatore (CP)
Italian Chicken Spaghetti (CP)
Beans and Cornbread
Pizza (frozen of course!) LOL
Breakfast

Now, some others that I have on cards that I am not including this time:

King Ranch Casserole
Fried Chicken
Burgers
Lasagna (regular)
Stir Fry
Pork Steaks
Veggie Soup
Chili
Ham
Gumbo

Any questions or thoughts please let me know! :)

The boys are away....

2009-04-25T21:47:00.002-05:00

The boys left yesterday to fly out to spend a week with J...mom and dad flew with them. They were SO excited to get to fly...both mom and dad, and the boys! LOL They had a fabulous flight and really enjoyed the taking and landing. So far they are having a lot of fun playing and spending time at the park. Apparently (B called me this afternoon) while playing at the park, he had a couple of mishaps with a stick and another with a slab of concrete. :( He says he's okay and isn't hurting, but Terry and I think he's 'being tough.' :)

We will be going out there at the end of the week for a graduation and also to get the boys...I'm already ready to get them! LOL I've never had trouble like this before when they've gone away, but I know much of it is the distance. But also, I think it has to do with knowing and understanding C at this time. I know that it will all be okay.

I know that many have been reading about the recent 'developments' on Clayton and some we've talked to about it. I've heard all kinds of comments from "he's really not that off" to "I never would have guessed" to "Clayton? On the autism spectrum?? No way." Well, one thing to keep in mind is that just because he has these tendencies of Asperger's or PDD-NOS, doesn't mean he's Rainman (thanks Lee for the analogy! LOL). Asperger's is a high-functioning part of the ASD. Within the ASD there are MANY many variations, and also within Asperger's there are many variations as well. So it's important to keep in mind that even though many of you may not see some of the traits when you're around him, if you will give me a few minutes (if you're interested) I can explain it to you and take you through a step-by-step description of it all. And also, while he has these tendencies, he isn't by any means a most severe case of an Aspie. (It's much like saying, "I have high blood pressure." Okay, well, how high is high?? "Well, mine is 142 over 94." Oh, that's not that big a deal...you can't really tell it. That's nothing...I know someone whose blood pressure is 195 over 115!..... See? Just cuz it's not he worst case scenario doesn't invalidate it. :))

I don't mean this to be a 'smack' on anyone at all. I just think it's important to understand everything and not discount some of it. Ya know??

This week I have many things I want to accomplish. Here's the current list:

I want to come up with a crock-pot menu for the next 6-8 weeks so that when we're starting therapy and all the driving (along with the baseball practice and games and Tae Kwon Do and weekend traveling for weddings and graduations) I can know from day to day what I'm cooking and what I have to shop for...and not have to even think about it.
I also want to find the disc that has all of our picture files from the old computer on it...so I can get them printed off for National Scrapbook Day (so exciting that I get to go!!!). I'll be working that day on Brent's scrapbook and need to get some pictures printed for it.
Another project I'd like to get done is to get a few weeks ahead on my Bible class lessons so I won't feel stressed on that front and I will be prepared.
I'm also hoping to clean out my pantry (which desperately needs cleaning out!)...but that one was just added to my list today. I have to contact the State of Alaska and start the process of getting my birth certificate sent to me so I can renew my license this June...ugh, Missouri is a PAIN for making us having to have that when I didn't even have to have that to get married!
It would be *nice* to get my carpets shampooed while I have no little feet running around when the carpet's wet and needing time to dry. I just don't know if this one is going to get accomplished.
Not to mention all the cleaning and laundry that needs washed/folded...but that's a never-ending chore, right??
Another thing that would be nice to accomplish would be to finish painting the kitchen/hallway, but I *really* don't think I will get that one done. LOL
I also have three appointments this week. And Friendship Sister's on Tuesday, which I do NOT want to miss!

Do you think I could cram anything else in these next 4 1/2 days??? Hehe

Next weekend while we're in OK we'll also be celebrating Brent's birthday with both sides of the family for the very first time! He's VERY excited and I can't wait to post pictures! :)

Learning about Asperger's

2009-04-21T15:11:00.002-05:00

Last Saturday when I was blessed to have some time at Barnes & Noble, I did some reading on Asperger's just to have the knowledge. So much of what I read I was sitting there saying, "Have they been in my house watching what we're doing??" LOL It's amazing!

One of the books I read from beginning to end was Asperger Syndrome & Difficult Moments by Brenda Smith Myles & Jack Southwick. Here is an excerpt from it that I copied down, mainly due to its relevance to our situation.
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The Rage Cycle

Rumbling Stage
~ Signs: Fidgeting, name calling, tensing, increase/decrease of voice volume
~ Intervention: Antiseptic bouncing, touch control, walk & don’t talk, cool zone
a. Antiseptic Bouncing – redirecting actions for a couple of minutes to allow diffusing.
b. Touch Control – touch or being in close proximity can let the child know you’re aware of the situation and allows them time to regain control. Sometimes this can work with just a look across the room.
c. Walk & Don’t Talk – often talking with them isn’t the answer since they can’t express exactly what they are feeling. Just walking with them or holding them for a minute without the expectation to communicate verbally helps them feel secure and reconnected.
d. Cool Zone – create a place in the house or environment that is a safe zone for them to go and focus, cool off, and/or regroup. This give them control of the situation when they often feel no power or control.

Rage Stage
~ Signs: impulsive actions, emotional, explosive, destructive, screaming, hitting, kicking, internalizing
~ **Adult behavior can escalate the crisis – yelling at them, assuming you know what they are thinking or doing, tense body language, sarcasm, nagging, mimicking, insisting the ‘adult is right’.
~ Intervention: remove the audience, get to a cool zone, be flexible (because the child can’t be right now)
~ **Effective Adult Behavior – try to control the ‘fight or flight’ tendency, remember less is more, calm and quiet, deep breaths.

Recovery Stage
~ Signs: sleeping, denial of rage behaviors, apologizing, withdrawal to fantasy world.
~ Interventions: support with structure, don’t continue to reference the rage behavior, give them space, go back to learning slowly (when during school time).
~ **Counter-control is common – if they feel someone trying to be controlling of them they react by being more in control (and often getting themselves in trouble for it).

Teachable moments are at the Rumbling Stage or AFTER the Rage Stage. They can’t learn and understand a teachable moment during the Rage Stage.

NOTE: Aspies don’t enjoy this Rage Cycle. It’s the way their bodies express stress and cope with problems for which they see no other solutions or that they don’t understand.

The best intervention to rage is prevention…through understanding and redirection or restructuring.

Tips for living with an Aspie
~ Parents should have a LASTing word. Many times parents feel they need to have the last word of an argument, but Aspies also have this need to talk even when no one is listening. So instead of making sure you have the last word, make sure your word is a LASTing word. Make sure that what you say is what you mean and follow through with it.
~ Have special 1-on-1 time with the siblings so they can share their feelings and thoughts on the situation. They often have helpful insights for the parent.
~ Have a consistent daily routine.
~ Have a consistent bedtime – this is very important for an Aspie, as their body needs a certain amount to shutting-down-time in order to function properly.

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As I was reading that, I was just completely humbled at how we (Terry and I) have probably contributed (unknowingly) to some of the meltdowns/outbursts by not realizing how our behavior was escalating his feelings and behavior. And the counter-control? Yeah, all the time. He gets this overly bossy attitude when you back him in a corner and he starts acting all like HE'S the one in control, when if you look close you can see he's really on the edge. *sigh* So much information to take in and absorb!

Last night, I went out with Brent for a little "Mommy Date"...after dinner we went out for ice cream so I could talk to him about all of this. (I am doing the same thing for Clayton tonight.) I explained all of it to him and he asked questions as we went along. One thing that he asked, after we'd been talking about how it's a problem inside the brain that is making things not work right, was "What part of the brain isn't working right?" So I got out a pen and drew on a napkin for him the pictures that Dr. Worth had drawn for us to show him how it all works. It was so interesting how he wanted to know the details so he could understand it. (Such a good big brother!)

One thing that I didn't expect was for him to feel bad. At one point I asked him what he was thinking or feeling about it all and he said sad. I asked him why and he said, "Cuz all this time I've been yelling at him and getting mad at him for doing the stuff he does just to find out that he couldn't help it." Awwww. Of course, I talked with him and let him know that Terry and I did the same things...and that we all do things based on what we think should be happening, but then we find out later that that person had no control over it. It happens and no one is in trouble over it, we just have to be more aware of it from now on and do better. I dearly love that child! He's more grown up for his 8 years of life than some adults!

Tonight (like I said) I'm going out with Clayton and explaining it to him. I won't be able to go into as much detail, but I'm hoping I can explain things to him in a way that helps him to feel better about it all. At this point, I am hoping to give him some ideas on coping skills and ways to deal with himself. We shall see! :)

My surprise on Saturday...

2009-04-20T15:52:00.005-05:00

On Saturday morning, I had a baby shower to attend for a girl at church. Such fun! She's having a baby girl and it was just so much fun to get together with all the ladies from church and visit and shower a friend with gifts! Well, when I was leaving, I called the house to let Terry know I was on my way home (like I always do) and B answered. I was told that dad was doing dishes and I was to go 'occupy myself at Barnes and Noble for a couple hours' cuz they weren't done with their errands. Well, okay!! LOL I'm not gonna turn down a chance to hit B&N!

So I went on into Cape and went to the Health Food Store where I found some powdered Vitamin C and also some Essential Oils so I could do some things for Clayton. Then I hit B&N so I could do some research. I got me a frappucino (sp?) and sat at a table for nearly 2 hours reading!! What pleasure! I hit Bath & Body Works too, since I'm NEVER in the mall alone! Oooo, so much fun to go in and smell the new stuff....It's been nearly a year since I've been there. When I left the mall, I called the house and asked if I could come home yet. Terry said they had just gotten home and I could go ahead and make the drive.

I arrive home and the boys met me at the van door and tell me I can't go in yet...they weren't quite ready! So I wait outside and when it's time, I walk in and see the living room is completely clean and the kitchen is clean (minus a few dishes...but come on, I left a TON of dishes that I didn't even expect would have been washed at all, let alone stacked on the counter...so cool!). Plus, there was this on the table:

Along with dinner, which consisted of grilled steak and shrimp kabobs, rice, and veggies. Terry even helped me clean up the dishes after we were finished too! ;) Sweet!

It was truly a blessing to just get to go off by myself for a few hours and decompress and research some things. I had no one asking me questions, no one bugging me, and it was really refreshing!

See, when I least expect it, he really surprises me! LOL

Pics from Sweetheart Banquet in Feb

2009-04-20T15:13:00.007-05:00

Back in February, on Valentine's Day, the Junior Youth group held a "Sweetheart" Banquet for the 'grandparents' of our congregation...we asked them to be our sweetheart for the evening. The kids got to sing their Pew Packers songs and visit with several of the members of our congregation.

Above, 2 of the couples that sat at "our" table...the one we decorated... The couple on the right is our new minister, Edd Sterchi, and his wife Julie. (A very DEAR couple, indeed!)

Above left: you can see an overview of how the fellowship room was decorated for the evening.

Above right: a shot of our table with our three couples (before they got fed!!). LOL

Brent volunteered to offer the prayer before the meal...a very proud moment for this mama!! He always prays such heartfelt prayers!

For the dinner (salad, lasagna, bread, and corn) the kids got to do all the serving. They carried glasses (as you can see Clayton is doing) back and forth to the kitchen for filling, they served the bread to each table, and delivered the plates of food to each person at their own respective table. We, as parents, are so proud of these kids!! Remember, this is the junior youth (ages 3 or 4 all the way to 11 or 12, I think) and we were using our best china and crystal for the dishes on the tables. Not one dish or glass was broken throughout the entire evening!! It was fantastic. And as you can see above with Brent, they had plenty of time to visit with the members of their table, which was good too...many times the kids don't take the time to visit with the older members of the church.

Above: during a bit of downtime, we decided to play a game with the attendees. We played Trivia, which is always fun. (Of course, I flubbed it up a bit and had a couple of the answers wrong, but whatever! LOL) While we were doing that and cleaning up the kitchen a bit, the kids came into the classrooms to make a card for the people at their table. And they also got to have a snack...they had been working really hard! :)

Above: when they got done with their projects, they came out and had cake with the attendees. (I don't know what to call them and I don't want to keep calling them 'older folks'...cuz they certainly aren't old!!) It was fun for all....

You can see above the kids got to 'perform' for everyone, doing their Pew Packers songs. If you look at the faces of some of the kids, they are making the goofiest faces when they do the songs that have movements! But they had SO much fun and the parents and grandparents really enjoyed it!

(Except for Clayton that is...He spent his time in the bathroom hiding with what we assumed was stage fright. This last picture above was the only shot with him singing and it was at the very end....)

I think one of the other kids was supposed to do the closing prayer but backed out at the last minute...so Brent gave that prayer as well. And he was oh so humble about it too....rolling his eyes, saying, "Guess I'll have to do this one too." LOL Big goober! He did a good job. They all did. We had SO many compliments about how well the kids did and how fun the adults had.

I think this may actually become an annual thing!!

Our recent Dr. Worth visit

2009-04-19T19:23:00.001-05:00

Last Thursday, we went to see Dr. Worth again for the reevaluation and consultation. We knew things were worse with C...and kinda figured B had stayed about the same. (If you need a refresher on it, check here from last year.)

We started out just updating files and Hope took C off to start the testing. Then they took B. While the boys were gone, Dr. Worth came in and talked with us and we just gave him a verbal update on C. We told him about the panic attacks, and when we'd noticed them starting (November). We discussed his bowel issues and how he's on a laxative for 6 months to 'clean him out'...which I explained bothered me some cuz of the unnaturalness of it. (His suggestion was to use powdered Vitamin C...cuz really the only negative effect of too much V-C is diarrhea. So when we reach that point, back off a little. Nice! :)) We talked about how he has lost weight...5 pounds since October. That's just TOO much on a little scrawny thing like Clayton.

Dr. Worth explained that what happens neurologically when you have a panic attack is that it creates havoc and causes the digestive system to shut down. So whether it is the bowels, the stomach, the esophagus, ...it doesn't matter. It makes that part of the body begin to shut down as a preservation. It has to do with that 'fight or flight' issue. So, all these pains in C's chest and constipation issues that he's been fighting for so long are pretty much explained.

We also discussed the night terrors...and the fact that they have decreased in frequency since this started happening in November. He still has them occasionally, but basically they are fewer and farther between. So, I asked Dr. Worth if the night terrors are basically manifesting themselves into the daytime through the panic attacks...and he agreed.

When he went over the testing results with us, it showed that C is even worse in several of the areas than last year. It was one of those tests where the lower the score, the better you are and on C's results his score was already high from last year, but was almost 2 times last years' score. So he's definitely seeing an increase in intensity of the issues at hand, as well as new stuff in the form of the panic attacks and outbursts.

It seems too, that his sensitivity to sound and touch are worsening as well. He seems to have a harder time focusing and 'blocking out' the noises and will even in church hold my hands over his ears during the singing, saying it's too loud and bothers him. And touch: sometimes just the lightest touch on his skin seems to send him down the path of severe irritation..while at other times he's seeking touch in another way.

We're seeing more of (due to the panic attacks) him retreating within himself. It's almost as if he shrivels away and goes into a fetal position and sometimes will cover his head with a blanket. He never wants to be too far away, but he wants to be by himself. And sometimes (when he doesn't have those other things to cover himself with) you can see just this blank look go over him and it's like he's just 'gone away' mentally.

As we were talking, I brought up to Dr. Worth what I had talked with Hope about and our suspicions of C having Asperger's. I told him that I had done some research on it and while he doesn't fit the diagnosis criteria completely he does fit it about 90%. Dr. Worth agreed that C has strong tendencies of having Asperger's or PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified). However, one thing he didn't want to do was to officially write the diagnosis in C's chart due to the long-term effects that that labeling can have. He described how he has seen people with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) get an official diagnosis, so that the parents can have insurance 'help' and what happens is that the premiums double due to the added cost of care for the child. And then later in life (adulthood) the child (who's now an adult) has trouble getting his own insurance because of the history and also has trouble getting a job or getting into the military...simply due to a diagnosis being written down in his chart. Especially if the diagnosis is a mild form of ASD or a high-functioning ASD (which Asperger's is)...one that can allow the person great levels of living a normal life once they learn the coping skills needed. Plus, he thinks that with the therapies he's planning, C's will get quite a bit better...to the point that the average person won't think anything is amiss. And he did say that if, at that time, we still have issues and still think that we need an official diagnosis to get some additional help, he'd be more than happy doing that for us.

Well, we've decided to go ahead with the therapies that Dr. Worth has set out for us. One of them is Interactive Metronome which is a type of rhythm connecting treatment that creates pathways in the brain and does this enough that the proteins create a permanent pathway. Another is Hemi-Stem, which we don't know much about yet. With C, Doc thinks he's going to switch some things out and try a different therapy (than we had discussed last year). This one sounds really cool. It basically has a helmet or hat that he'll wear and it has sensors inside it. C will 'play a game' on a TV, but has to think the movements in order to get the computer to do what he wants. He will have to command it mentally to do things. I think it will be cool when he figures it out. But Dr. Worth thinks this one is more appropriate for him now since he's been having the panic attacks. These therapies will require 3 trips to St. Louis to Dr. Worth's office per week for 14-18 weeks and we start the first week of May.

On top of it all, these therapies are not covered by insurance...so please pray that God provides during this time!! LOL We have faith that He will, as He always has, but you know how it gets.... just a little worrisome! :-)

We have great respect for Dr. Worth and great trust as well that he knows what he's talking about. He seems very sincere and it's obvious that he cares about his patients and wants to see them get 'brain healthy' again. It's gonna be a long road, but we'll make it!

A few new things...

2009-04-15T15:10:00.003-05:00

Not much new has been happening, but a couple of things have.

After the normal process within the church, Terry (along with 5 other men) is now a deacon at the Jackson church. He and these other men join the existing 'crew' of 8 men doing the work of deacons at our congregation. He's so humble about it all, which is how it should be. It was funny last weekend. We were talking with the boys about how church service was going to go and how it would be different from the normal service... Brent said, "Yeah, I know..daddy gets to become a deacon!" I said, "That's right-" Brent continued as if I hadn't spoken, "I'm so glad he doesn't have to work at TG anymore!" I asked him what he meant and he replied, "Well, being a deacon is gonna take so much time and work that he won't be able to work for TG anymore!" So of course, I discussed this all with him and explained that people who are elders or deacons are like the preachers, in the sense of them being paid for their work. I just thought it was interesting. LOL

But then it dawned on me (in the middle of the service, no less!~) that I'm a deacon's wife now! LOL I don't know why I hadn't thought of that before, but I guess I had just focused on Terry though it. Who knows. Anyway, it's a humbling thing.

The other thing happening is that we are heading to St Louis tomorrow morning to see Dr. Worth again for the boys. Primarily, this is a reevaluation from last year, since we didn't do the therapy that was suggested to us. However, there are also the other symptoms and signs that we're seeing with C that we want to talk about. And it's these symptoms that make us more and more assured that he needs these therapies and so we're going. Hopefully, we'll know more tomorrow night.

March is Gone!

2009-04-07T15:18:00.003-05:00

Well, March is now gone and I haven't given any real updates all month long! What a weird and crazy month it was too.

We started the month out with a follow-up appointment for C with the dr regarding his tummy/bowel issues. The Dr. Mark suggested we stay on the laxative for another 3 months to make sure that things are where they need to be. He didn't do an X-ray this time, which kinda bugged me. C's been nearly impacted through all this so far and he said it could take up to 6 months to clear it! So I'm assuming he'll do another x-ray in June when we go back. However, we did ask him about the sick feeling C's been complaining of for some time now. Every time he eats, he says he feels sick and can't eat. So he's been eating less and less, yet when he does eat, we try to get him to eat the right things. *sigh* Mark put him on Zantac pills for 2 weeks. We got a week into them and couldn't do it anymore. They were causing more of an issue to get him to swallow the pills than what it was worth. So for now, we're just waiting and seeing what we can do.

On the 11th of the month, we were preparing to go to Salem for a week (Terry's week off for the quarter). The plan was to leave on Thursday evening and be gone about a week. Well, Brent started running a fever on Wednesday morning. Very low, but fever. Then on Friday, Clayton starts running a fever. Same thing...very low. I finally took Brent to the Dr to have him tested for strep (since we'd been exposed) and they also tested him for the Flu. He was negative for both, thankfully. They just continued to run fever and we kept having to postpone our trip. Well, on Sunday morning, they both woke up without fever so we went to church and then left for Salem.

That Monday, Terry took us all out to the woods so he could cut some logs and do some trimming. It was fun...Clayton found a 'little brown jug' in the woods that was completely in tact. He kept tipping it up and saying he was a pirate! LOL We loaded the truck with wood and went back to the house. A cousin came to play with the boys that evening and I cooked dinner for everyone....fried chicken breast, cabbage, hash brown casserole, etc. Yummy dinner! Then the boys came in and asked us to take a hike with them...so the four of us set out across the field. We walked down across the hay field and back to the house...about a mile. It was pretty much dark by the time we got back, but it felt good to walk outside!

The next morning, I woke up not feeling so great, but figured it was just allergies... My throat was dry and it hurt to swallow. But we went through the day visiting with Janice and just getting things done. That night we went to D's for dinner and had a good visit with her, but as the night went on I just kept feeling worse and worse. I had Terry check my throat...sure enough: WHITE. He said there was more white than pink in my throat. :( So the next morning I started calling around trying to get an appointment to get some meds, and what a chore that was! I really didn't want to go to the ER, as our copay was higher, especially when I knew what was wrong! I finally found an office that would take me and got some meds. Just so happened the Nurse Practitioner I saw was an old buddy of Terry's from high school! :) So while I layed on the table in misery, they got to sit there and catch up on old times. LOL

Well, that was on Wednesday and my fever didn't break until Thursday night. After we got back home. :( So much for a 'spring break', huh?? But boy it felt good to get home...I really wanted to come home on Tuesday, but Terry was making so much progress getting some things done on the farm that I hated to ask him to bring me home. I just sat in the recliner bundled up and watched TV in between naps.

Friday of that week (the 13th) we had a junior youth activity at the church building so that the parents could have a Parents Night Out. We and another couple were chaperone's for the youth group and we ended up turning it into a mini-lock-in for them. It was so much fun...relay races, pizza, games, musical chairs, movie, and the cotton bowl! (This one was really fun...we gave each of them 10 cotton balls and a plastic spoon. Had them divided into two teams and spread them out around a great big bowl. They had to 'flip' their cotton balls into the bowl with their spoon, and continue till all team members' cotton balls were in the bowl. Really quite fun! :))

The next day, Saturday, my cousin came up for a visit and we got to spend the entire day just sitting and visiting. Ahh.... Terry grilled some steaks and we ate and had a great time. We haven't gotten to sit and visit like that in so long....It really was a treat.

Sunday afternoon, the Junior Youth was scheduled to sing at the local Veteran's Home in Cape. They sang some of their Pew Packers songs and did a really great job. The veteran's really enjoyed it.

[Side-note here.... I mentioned before about C saying he felt sick to his stomach. Well, he has also been complaining about his heart beating really fast and it kinda freaks him out. He holds his hand over his heart and just sits there. Well, I've timed his heartbeats and they are within normal range, but it's beating really hard, to the point that it is really pounding in his chest. Terry and I had been toying with the idea that it is almost like panic attacks. So we're at the Veteran's Home and all seems to be well with him...he's chatting with his friends and seems fine. Then it's time to go in and sing....he won't let go of Terry's hand. Terry finally convinces him to hold Brent's hand, but he wouldn't sing and his face was really pale. Well, then they started doing the action songs and Brent let go of C's hand. Clayton quickly put his hand over his heart and just stood there. He was having a panic attack. :( We're really concerned over it all...and just not sure what to do with it. It bugs me though, cuz he's SIX! My 6 yo shouldn't be having panic attacks!]

At the end of the last week of March, we had our home school convention in St. Louis. The boys stayed with mom and dad and had a Lord of the Rings marathon. :) They really enjoyed that! Terry and I enjoyed the convention, but it wasn't as good (for us) as years past. We're thinking that perhaps we don't need to go every year, unless we have a specific need.

The first of April, B had an appointment for his palette expander and we were told NOT to turn it anymore...he gets it off on June 3rd!! ;) Woohoo! Brent is SO happy that he will finally be able to chew gum again! LOL

This past weekend, we had our Gospel Meeting at church with Phil Sanders of Edmond, OK. Phil preaches now at the Edmond Church of Christ and we were so blessed to have him with us. He spoke a couple of different times on post-modernism and it was very eye-opening. Wow.

That brings me up-to-date! Whew... The next few weeks are going to be even busier than these last ones...hopefully I won't get so far behind on blogging. LOL Now, I have to go cook something for dinner cuz Brent has his first baseball practice at 6:30 tonight! :)

We're going again...

PS I have some pictures I hope to post later this week...it will be a post full of pics! :)

What they say and do....

2009-03-06T19:14:00.002-06:00

The boys never cease to amuse me when it comes to all the things they say and do. This past week was no exception...they provided again! :)

Wednesday night B overheard me telling someone about our upcoming weekends and how "the boys fly out that day..." His eyes got all big and said, "FLY?" I shushed him and he went to play, but as soon as we got in the van to drive home, he asked me what I was talking about. So I explained that coming up in late April the *plan* is for them (both boys) to fly out to see Aunt J and the family for a week, and then we would come out the next weekend for the activities we have planned, and they would come home with us. Of course, they were ECSTATIC! Well, the next morning, before they ever got out of bed, I could hear them talking, which isn't all that unusual. They occasionally will lay in bed talking for a few minutes before they get up. But they just kept talking and I could hear things being moved around, but they never came out of their room. I figured they were just playing, but it was getting a bit odd, cuz they never wait that long. Soon, here comes B. He walks out, goes straight to the laundry room, gets two bottles of water, and starts to go back to their room. I asked him what he was doing. He said, "We're packing our stuff for the plane trip." I reminded him that the trip wasn't for another 6 weeks. He said, "Yeah, I know...we're just wanting to be ready so it won't take so much time to get ready later on." LOL So I let them....

A few minutes later, C comes out and tells me that he wants to wear a pair of his nights (pull-ups for night time) on the airplane ride. I asked him why and he said so that way if he has to go potty while they're flying, he can just go. I said, "Oh, honey, don't worry...there's a bathroom on the plane so you can go if you need to." He just looked at me funny and said, "So, if I have to go to the bathroom, will they just land the plane so I can get up and go?" :-) Fighting a grin and a laugh, I explained to him that when you're up in the air like that, it's safe to get up and go to the bathroom, but when you're done you need to come back and buckle your seat belt. LOL I love it!

A bit later, they come trucking down the hallway with their stuff in tow: a box and a plastic container of all their stuff that they are packing. They plop it all down by the front door and I had to explain to them that they couldn't actually pack their stuff in THOSE containers cuz they wouldn't be allowed on the airplane...and that we couldn't leave their stuff sitting by the front door for the next 6 weeks! LOL They were sad that they had to unpack their stuff, but they finally did it. Just too cute.....

Then yesterday, we were on our way home from a couple of appointments and B asked me how much slushies cost. I told him and he said, "Okay...then I have enough. When Daddy's off tomorrow, and we're out running errands, I want to buy everyone a slushy." Awwww. :) My baby.... Most times, he can be SO generous and it just warms my heart! :) I love seeing that side of him and he shows it more and more.

Ouch!

2009-03-02T16:15:00.002-06:00

Well, we were in Salem this weekend...where 10 inches of snow fell in 8 hours! Wow! It was truly beautiful coming down, but amazed me at it's 'quickness'. The weather for our town had said that the snow would be a dusting or just flurries, so when we left, I didn't bother taking any kind of heavy coats, boots, hats, or gloves for the boys. MISTAKE! Thankfully, it was windy and cold enough that they didn't want to stay out too long in it, but since all they had was tennis shoes, it completely soaked their socks and shoes each time they went out and played in it! The good part was I got to whack all of them with a broom when they were ready to come in so I could 'sweep' off all the snow on their coats and pants! LOL

Another ouch for our economy...another bailout for AIG and now the Dow is down 300+ points to 6700-something. Amazing how we just keep giving money to these companies who have proven (twice now) that they can't responsibly handle themselves and the money we have provided for them.... The definition of insanity is continuing to do the same action and expecting a different result...so is our government insane?? I think so. What's Obama gonna do now?? When's he gonna actually bail-out the American person? That stimulus certainly won't do it!

End of February

2009-02-26T15:27:00.003-06:00

There really isn't a whole lot that's new this week! But I feel compelled to write something! LOL

Terry still has a job (thankfully!)!

The boys and I haven't been sick (thankfully!)!

It's been warmer outside (thankfully!)!

We're SO ready for spring! It was nice enough today to go out and play with our neighbor....you'd think I had kept the boys inside for 3 months. Oh! Wait....I did. LOL They were so happy to be outside and didn't even care that they didn't have toys out there to play with...they were happy to play with sticks, leaves, and the wind. :-) It's a proud moment when they are so easily entertained!

We have a busy couple of weeks coming up...well, weekends. We have a ton of things to choose from each weekend and are finding ourselves a bit overwhelmed with all the options! Thankfully, we're getting good at saying no when needed and we're getting good at recognizing when we need a weekend at home. The time will come soon enough when those decisions are taken out of our hands and we'll find ourselves so busy we won't know which way is up!

One of these days I'll get my videos from the Sweetheart banquet on here so you can see what a great job the kids at church did serving others.

Till then!

Nothing new

2009-02-11T12:43:00.005-06:00

Nothing new has happened in the last week! I just felt compelled to come here and say that! LOL

We're continuing with school like normal and trying to stay on target with that. Terry is still working his normal 4 days a week. Last week his day off he was sick with fever, even though he got up and ran errands! (Silly man!) The boys and I had a homeschool thing to go to that day, so we were away from the house. But instead of staying in bed and getting sleep, Terry decided to get up and work through his sickness. *sigh*

Last weekend, when mom and dad were here for the Superbowl weekend, mom went out and went sledding with the kids. I got some great videos! :)

The boys (and Terry) also built a snowman in the front yard! He was SOOOO cute!

We had a carrot nose (of course) and Tricuits for eyes (!) and a slice of pink gum for his mouth (quite appropriate I thought!). But it was a good thing I got pictures of him....by the next morning it had warmed up enough that his head had melted away! And by the time we came home from church, he was completely gone. That just may be the shortest lived snowman in history! LOL

These next two are of mom after she and Brent hit the ditch on the sled! We were all laughing so hard!

Coming up this weekend, we have a Sweetheart Banquet at church for the Junior Youth...where they have invited the Senior Saints of the congregation to be their Sweethearts! :) They have songs they will be singing for them and will be serving them dinner and everything. Can't wait! The boys are very excited and have been singing their songs here at home.

***I have no idea why the spacing is SO messed up with Blogger, but recently, that's been the norm! Sorry you had to wade through the extra spaces!***

Newest developments

2009-02-03T21:25:00.003-06:00

T's work had a company-wide meeting today letting them know about the newest job developments. So here's the scooop:

It was laid out in greater detail than I will provide here (cuz only parts of it apply to us, thankfully!), but suffice it to say that they are laying off about 20% of their employees...out of about 1,000 people. The rest are still on mandatory 4-day weeks, with the 5th day being a vacation day (so they get paid for that day), but are also now being required to take one week of un-paid vacation per quarter (3 months). We're not sure yet when that will happen for Terry (when his week off will be) but we're already looking at how this is affecting us financially.

We'll be okay...God will provide. He will take care of us. :)

I feel really sorry for the rest of the people who are being laid off. They are regular folk, just like us, and many have families. It's not like they are only choosing the ones who are just couples or single. (Of course not, that would be discrimination! LOL) It's just so scary, cuz we also believe that this is only Round 1....there will more than likely be more coming in the next 3-5 months...so who is next?? Could it be us?? Who knows...

Our First Snow of 2009

2009-01-28T15:03:00.008-06:00

Well, we started getting ice on Monday evening about 6. It didn't quit icing until Tuesday night about midnight. Sometime after that it started snowing...and then quit by morning! LOL We got about 3-4 inches of ice packed in underneath 3-4 inches of snow. Wowee! Made for some good sledding today for the kids! But it made for some interesting driving and digging-out this morning for the adults that had to go to work! It took Terry nearly an hour to get out of the snow that was up to the bottom of his car!

Well, I had Terry get some snow from outside in bowls for me so I could make some snow ice cream later. That's one thing the boys have looked forward to...and is a tradition I hope to continue from my childhood onto theirs. But the boys had no idea that it had snowed last night. They knew it had been icing yesterday, but they knew they couldn't play in the ice. So when they finally realized there was snow (about an hour and a half after they got up!) they decided to come up with a picture and a song for me to tell me they wanted to go out and play. Here's the picture:

The song was like this, to the tune of "Jingle Bells":
Christmas time, Christmas time,
It's Christmas time outside!
Snow has fallen, let's all cheerin',
Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah!

LOL Whatever! They had fun. So I told them that we'd get to go outside, but it would be only after.... And they knew, "We finish our school work." So they took off to the schoolroom and Brent was done with all of his work in like an hour...totally amazed me! When there's motivation, it's amazing what can get accomplished!

So we ate lunch and bundled up and headed outside. I was wearing a pair of boots of Terry's (cuz I have no heavy shoes to speak of) and decided his coat was warmer than mine, so I wore one of his coats. The boys laughed at me cuz I 'looked like Daddy.' :) Here are some random shots of our time outside and some explanation where needed.

Of course, Brent took advantage of the fresh snow to make a snow angel...

At the top of this one on the left you can see his finished angel. Then on the right, they wanted to make a 'path' with their shovels....

Clayton found this large block of snow and decided to offer me some of his 'ice cream'...when I didn't want any he said, "Fine, I'll eat it myself!" and I got a shot of him just as he ate it! Then he went off the porch and decided to clock himself in the head with it! LOL

Clayton decided to start throwing snow up in the air and have 'snow showers'....it covered all of us!

In this one below-right, Brent was getting ready to take a bit of snow when Clayton was starting to throw it in the air...Brent reached up and blocked him...but shoved the snow in Clayton's face! ROFL! He was crying, I was laughing. I know...I'm a great mom!

I have a couple video's to share too...the first one is Brent sledding down our hill. He discovered that he really likes sledding! He kept going down and up, down and up...over and over. Clayton wasn't having any of it. He would watch and laugh and yell, but wouldn't do it himself.

Finally, I convinced Clayton to sled. The first time, I helped him so much that I couldn't get a video of it. Well, he was sitting so far to the back and was so light, that he was FLYING...literally. He was bouncing and popping up off the snow as he was going down. Well, he enjoyed it enough that I convinced him to do it again. This time....

Well, of course, he was crying and very upset. I finally got to him and calmed him down and asked if he got hurt. He said no. Did he get scared going too fast? No. So I had him look at me and tell me what was wrong.... He said, "Why did those people have to put that building there....if it wasn't for that I could have gone farther!!!" He wasn't hurt...he was mad cuz he had to stop!!! But then he refused to do it again! Weird child!

Anyway, Brent continue on sledding and they went on to other things. Then Brent decided to go to the other side of the house and sled down that side of the hill... Clayton decided he wanted to ride down with Brent! So, I helped them get set up and gave them a push....

Grade posting

2009-01-27T15:56:00.003-06:00

I have graded Brent's workbooks for Units 1 & 2. Here is a summary:

Unit 1:
Phonics - 96% - A
Reading - 94% - A

Unit 2:
Phonics - 97% - A
Reading - 92% - A

So far so good! :) I don't have much on math yet...will get Social Studies done soon.

Ice and more ice

2009-01-27T14:45:00.003-06:00

We're finally getting a winter here, but it's not the kind of winter we want! Instead of snow, we're getting ice. And LOTS of it. Oddly, it's coming down in pellets instead of the freezing rain stuff that we had last year...so this doesn't seem to be sticking to trees and power lines, just cars and roads! LOL Right now we're at about 4 inches of ice and it's still coming down. We're supposed to have snow on top of this but that depends on how low the winds blow the snow-storm. Who knows....

The boys of course are not getting a snow day off of school. :( They are grumpy about it, but they are living with it. Brent keeps asking me when they will get a day off school and I told him they gets days off all the time, I just don't point it out. Hmm..perhaps I should? :)

No word yet on the job front for Terry. Right now things are just status quo. Hopefully, they will stay this way...if they do then all will be okay. If they change again, that's when things will get really interesting.

I am working on this diet thing....again. I've added exercise into my routine, which is really hard for me. But I'm working on it. I've lost 1 lb. 1 measly pound. It's depressing, but I'm trying not to let it get to me.

Apple Dumpling Gang

2009-01-24T22:03:00.001-06:00

Just posted about the Apple Dumpling Gang on my Review Blog. :)

They fixed it!

2009-01-21T16:01:00.002-06:00

Recently, our credit card was charged over $600 to a Walt Disney World vacation...a charge we certainly didn't do! Granted this caused some stress and worry over our CC having been stolen, possibly having to change it, etc. Terry called the company and talked to them about it and they let us know they would launch an investigation into the situation, but that it would be around 30 days until we heard something, cuz they have to contact the merchant to confirm the actions. Okay, we were fine with that as long as we wouldn't be charged any fees or interest while it was happening.

Well, today, we got a phone call that all is well! The merchant let them know that there was no paper record of that charge, and so therefore, the credit card company would refund our account that money and show it as a zero. We are so very grateful that this didn't turn into something more frustrating and time consuming than it had to be.

And as Terry says, this is why he loves credit cards as opposed to debit cards....he can fight this without having to pay for it first. Where as with debit cards, the money is gone and then you have to fight it and try to get the money back.

At least it's all figured out! :)

Back to the daily grind...

2009-01-15T12:15:00.016-06:00

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! :)

"That's not cornbread!"

2009-01-12T17:54:00.006-06:00

The other night, I attempted to make (again!) ham and beans. For some who know, this has been a many-year-long process for me to learn how to make ham and beans....cuz, they either end up a complete mushy mess or they end up fine on the outside and still hard and crunchy on the inside. *sigh* So, after soliciting the help of some online friends (thanks to Sunny and Sis and others!), I think I have figured out a way to do this! First I soaked the beans for about 3-4 hours in regular water, then rinsed them, and put them in a pot with water and brought them to a boil. I continued to cook them in the same way that I have always cooked them, and they were GREAT! :)

Well, I made some cornbread to go with it, and was busy when I started to smell it so I asked T to check on it for me. Brent jumped up and went to open the oven door....he shouts: "That's NOT cornbread!" I just figured he was thinking it wasn't brown around the edges and looked funny. Terry looked at it and said there were bubbles on the top....I told him it is sorta like pancakes where the bubbles come to the top and pop as it's cooking. He said, "Well, maybe so, but I've never seen bubbles like this!" So I finished what I was doing and went to check....

I have never seen cornbread do this before, so I had to take these pics! LOL I had mountains in my cornbread!!!

Well, I was going over the way I made it in my head after that and realized I forgot to put baking powder OR salt in the recipe! DOH!! So, we have truly unleavened cornbread Saturday night for dinner! :)

Just goes to show that the baking powder really does make a difference!

Miscellaneous of the Boys

2009-01-12T17:44:00.006-06:00

Just some random shots of the boys showing off their "muscles" and their mean/scary looks:

One afternoon as we were putting our Christmas decorations up, mom and I were chatting in the kitchen. The boys were taking a break from helping and we caught them doing a Sudoku on the couch together. Brent was helping Clayton figure it out and they were just so cute together I had to get a couple shots!

"I told you not to do that!"

2009-01-12T17:28:00.004-06:00

A while back when we were painting (before Christmas), the boys and I were at the paint store and the boys were acting like the paint machine. To do this they have to jump up and down and shake all over.... Well, I told them that they were gonna get hurt or possibly hurt something else if they didn't quit, but of course, being boys, they felt they had to continue! Next thing I knew, I heard B crying and Clayton came running to me, "I didn't do anything, Mom! I promise!!" LOL I get over to the paint machine (I was maybe 5 feet away looking at paint brushes) and already there is this swollen bump-line on Brent's head...right between the eyes! It was swelling and was bright purply-red. Oy. So, after questioning him, I find out that he slipped on something on the floor and crashed his face into the corner of the metal cabinet that the paint machine is on! Of course, I had to do that "I told you not to do that!" speech, but all was well!

Anyway, here are a couple of shots of it for your pleasure!

A School Funny

2009-01-08T13:45:00.002-06:00

Okay, so I'm grading papers/workbooks this week...um from Unit 1...and we're getting ready to start Unit 3. Yeah, I know: I'm behind! LOL What else is new???

Anyway, as I'm grading Brent's reading comprehension workbook, I just started laughing and told Terry that Brent is SOOOOO a Schafer and VERY much his engineer-father's son! Throughout the book there are times when it asks a question and wants them to find it in the reading and write a sentence or phrase for the answer. He's done this and has typically done it well. As I'm looking at about Lesson 14, there is a question that says: "Native Indians were a very clean people. Find three instances in your reading that showed their cleanliness. A. B. C." and then some lines for him to write the phrase or sentences. Did he do that??? N.O.P.E. Here is what he wrote:

A. Paragraph 10, sentence 3
B. Paragragh 13, all
C. Paragraph 5, last part.

LOL, okay...that just made me laugh. His logic and reasoning sometimes is good, others times it just creates more work for me! Oy.

Another Christmas Update

2009-01-07T11:20:00.002-06:00

Well, we are finally done with all our Christmases! We had a good time with all our families and have really enjoyed the time we got to spend with everyone. But it's been a crazy-busy time for us and I have to admit that we're glad to be done traveling and be done with the busy-ness. Which isn't to say that we aren't busy anymore....HA! Far from it! We're still busy, but we are going back to our "normal" busy stuff, if that makes any sense!

Mom, Dad, my sister and her family were all here over the last week and we spent a fun 5 days together eating, playing games, visiting, watching movies, eating, playing games, eating some more, and playing more games! But I have to say that the 3 AM nights really got to me....I'm SO tired this week!

I plan on posting pictures soon....I have a ton to post and a couple videos still of the boys from our family Christmas that I want to share. It's just been so nice to get away from the computer for a few days and just enjoy the time with my boys...all three of them. Terry goes back to work next Monday and I'm really hoping things will go even further back to normal when that happens. LOL Hopefully in the next few days I can get some pics posted....

Till then....

New Appliance

2009-01-07T11:17:00.004-06:00

Brent got his new appliance today....a palate expander. :) He was nervous, excited, apprehensive, and scared all at the same time. But the expander went on well and was cemented like it needed to be. Now he has to work on relearning how to talk and learning how to swallow (and not slurp!)! It will take some days to get used to it and begin the process, but I know he'll make it just fine. We go back in a month to recheck everything, but we have to turn it every other day, which means I have to be on top of things! LOL

The only down part really of the whole thing is that Brent is quite upset that he can't have a huge list of items while he has the appliance.... no gum (!), no chewy candy (caramel, skittles, taffy, etc), no suckers or hard candy. He looked at me after the assistant left the area and said, "Now I can't have dessert for 6 months!!" I said, "You can have ice cream." He was quick to point out that we didn't have any ice cream at the house....so I guess I will be getting some today! LOL He also told me that no one else in the family could have gum for 6 months...cuz it wouldn't be fair for us to have it and he couldn't. We'll have to see about that! LOL

Christmas has come and is coming more...

2008-12-23T21:53:00.002-06:00

Last Saturday, we had our Christmas here with the boys since my family was coming in during this week to spend the holiday here. We thought we'd get our gifts out of the way...and have them opened and able to be used when everyone was here! :) The kids had a great time opening and using their gifts...most of which were either Wii products or movies. There were other things, but we really like family movie nights here...and so movies were a big part of it. If we're not watching movies, we're playing the Wii. Anyway, as soon as we got things opened up, we started the day of playing, movie watching, playing, movie watching, etc... so much fun and relaxation. ;) I have a couple of videos to post and a ton of pics to post, but will have to do that at a later time....there just isn't time to sit and wait for them to upload right now! LOL I need to go play the Wii....

Then we found out that it would work out best for all concerned with my family for us to postpone our Christmas to the following week (the week of New Years) to ensure that the kids will get the most time together. Well, and us adults too, but the focus is the kids. :) Which is actually really nice, cuz I wasn't quite ready to have 10 people in my house! LOL I could have been ready, but why push it, huh?

So we are leaving in the next couple of days to go to Salem a bit early instead of just Friday and Saturday. So exciting...we'll get to spend time with a new baby that has joined the family and see all the cousins and nieces and nephews that we never get to see! The kids are looking forward to having 3 more Christmases in the next week too! LOL

I wish everyone who reads this and checks in with us a very Merry Christmas! I probably won't be back to update again until after the New Year, so Happy New Year too!

Job update

2008-12-17T11:49:00.002-06:00

Things are certainly getting interesting with the economy and how it's effecting us in the job area! Even though Terry is working for Toyoda (a Toyota company, Japanese based) they make parts for both Ford and GM owned companies. So since those companies are having problems, it is creating problems for TG. There has been talk since Thanksgiving that things were going to change for them over Christmas (they normally get about a week off for "shut down" over Christmas and New Years), but they weren't sure yet how much. Well, about two weeks ago, we found ot that they would be off definitely the 22nd and 23rd of this month. Okay, not bad. But then the next day, they added the 18th and 19th to that. Then the next day they said they would also not be working the first full week of January (5th-9th) and would be coming back on the 12th.

Really, that isn't so bad, but they are making people use their own vacation time in order to get paid for these days off. That's 9 days of vacation!!! And for those who didn't have the time, they had to take it without pay. I feel so sorry for those people...thankfully, we have the time for it. (I'm just not sure what I will do having Terry home for 3 weeks straight!)

But things are possibly getting worse. There is rumor that there will be more days in January that they will have to not work and another rumor (which is 99% confirmed by a member of management) that they will be going to a 4-day work week. Now, that's not 4-10's. That would be 4-8's. So they would only work 32 hours a week instead of 40. We're not sure as of yet when that's gonna happen or how the pay issue would work out since Terry is salaried. Legally, there can be some issues there.

For the time being, I'm trying to keep Terry from worrying about things...but that's hard to do with him being the head of the household and feeling so strongly about filling that role so well. He feel responsible and is worried that things are going to get so much worse in the coming months. But we're healthy, have a roof over our heads, have food on our table, and have presents under our tree. We are BLESSED and we are trying to focus on counting those blessings.

Family is coming to spend some time at our house in ONE WEEK! :) The kids are getting so excited and I have to admit, so am I! LOL

Mid-December update

2008-12-12T13:58:00.002-06:00

We are getting healthy again! LOL It's been a while since I have posted, but mostly that has been due to either illness, craziness (not mine!), and exhaustion!

Right before Thanksgiving we decided to rearrange our living room to better accommodate our upcoming Christmas festivities and cuz we've been wanting it rearranged for quite some time, and this seemed like a perfect time! But I told Terry that I wanted to paint if we were gonna rearrange...it's been 8 years we've been in this house and I've never gotten to paint the living room/kitchen. So I picked out paint and had it mixed and I painted one wall (the one where the entertainment center would go when it was moved) the day before Thanksgiving. We got home from Thanksgiving and (as you have already read) I got sick. We had already moved the entertainment center on Monday night, so the living room looked like a tornado had thrown up in there! But then I was sick for 3 days so we weren't able to work on it at all.

On Thursday night, I was feeling better, so we talked about how to do the weekend with all the finishing we needed to do...furniture, wiring for the stereo and video equipment, etc. Terry suggested that we could go ahead and paint 2 more walls (which would take the paint into half of the kitchen) with no problems on Friday night. See, I had planned on just painting that 1 wall and stopping till after Christmas. But he had a point, why not get it all done while the furniture is already away from the walls? So Friday night, we had a "date night" of painting the living room walls and one kitchen wall. The kids got to help some, but they entertained themselves having a 'gameshow' of the two contestants having a painting competition. They would get their announcer voices (which sounded oddly British!) and take commercial breaks and interview the "painters" and everything. It was really quite comical and made the evening more fun. But then, we were nearing the end of the night, the end of the painting (for now), when Terry had to open a new gallon. I looked at it and said, "It looks more pink...." He said, "It's probably just cuz it's wet and the stuff up there is already starting to dry." Okay, whatever. :) So he gets back to his part and I finish up the corners and ceiling area I was doing....I get down and something told me to look at what he was doing. I stepped back far away from it and just said, "Honey stop!" He said, "It's not the right color is it??" Yep, the store mixed the color wrong. And we had a 3-foot-wide-floor-to-ceiling patch of it that wasn't right. And it was too late in the night to take it back to them. But then we got to looking at it all and realized that the color we had been putting on the wall was actually the wrong color (which we liked better!) and the one in the cans left was the right color! So the next morning, we took them back and they mixed up some fresh color, matching the wrong color, and didn't even bat an eye! I was shocked; I figured they would make us pay for it....but they didn't!

So we finished painting and started putting things back together. We got the living room put back and all the wiring done by about 7:30 last Saturday night and we just collapsed! On Sunday mom and dad came down so that we could put up the Christmas decorations, and mom stayed an extra day helping me get the school room and the rest of the living room (the tornado throw up from before was still there!) back together again. (I suddenly feel like "all the kinds knights and all the kings horses..." Ha!)

The boys decided they wanted to go home with Grandma, so they went home with them on Tuesday night...and we started our Christmas shopping! All online! LOL It's really fun to be able to ship everything right to your door! We got all the boys' stuff ordered that night and just have to finish up a couple more things for extended family this weekend! YAY!

Work is proving to be an interesting situation for Terry...being in automotive, things are getting tough. TG makes parts for other manufacturers, and those companies are shutting down more and more over the next few weeks...which means that TG isn't working either. So, they have told them that they have to be off work 9 additional days (additional to their holiday time off) and it has to come out of their vacation time...if they don't have vacation time, they take it without pay. Then he came home last night and said that other departments are already talking about working 4 day work-weeks (not 4-10's, but 4-8's....getting them only 32 hours a week instead of 40) and that he suspects his department will be next, cuz they are so closely linked in what they do. *sigh* So, starting when he comes home next Wednesday, the 17th, he will be home and not working until January 12. That's over 3 weeks off. Granted, that will be nice to have him home and we'll get some things done, and we're thankful that he's got the vacation time to use so we won't go without pay, but it's making it hard to figure how to make things okay if work gets worse. And it has great potential to get much worse. :-( We're just praying and, honestly, it's helping our faith more, cuz we know that God will take care of us and make things okay. :)

Well, I am off to do more laundry and get ready for my boys to be home. :)

Well, I'm sick...

2008-12-02T22:57:00.002-06:00

Here I sit, on my bed doing Christmas present research for Terry while I'm sick...but he's up and doing the dishes and the laundry and cleaning stuff. :( I have 2 infections in my left ear and one in my right. Ugh. I've had horrible luck with my ears this year. Ho hum. LOL C is asleep by me and B is helping Terry, which is good for them. Guess I'm having a pity party of sorts, huh? :-)

I will update soon about our Thanksgiving...it was truly a blast! We had 4 days in Salem and it was such a blessing.

Till then...

Getting to that time...

2008-11-19T14:41:00.002-06:00

I haven't updated in a few days because I haven't had time! I have been spending my days (and some evenings) working on mom's portfolio and getting things ready for the Craft Show this weekend in Cape. I'm excited about it....but man there's a lot of work to do! LOL

Mom and dad came down on Friday so that Saturday we could work (together) on all the details that still needed to be worked out. The guys built a 'stand' for all the quilts to go on, mom worked on sewing, and I worked on the portfolio and dimensions. When the guys finished, we ate an early supper (ordered pizza cuz no one had time to cook!) and then sat down at the table and started working out other details: pricing. What a time consuming thing! We worked on things till 11 PM and we were all so brain-fried that we had to stop...then mom and dad still had to drive home!

Monday I worked more on portfolio and then went downstairs to sand down the stands. After dinner (leftover pizza from the weekend!) I went down again and began painting. I realized quickly it was going to take at least 3 coats to cover up the construction grade lumber, but that's okay...I love to paint!

Yesterday (Tuesday) we spent time at the chiropractors office (our third week there for Brent since he rotated his hip out of place) and were finally cleared by the Doc to return to TKD in December! Woohooo... :) [But that is short lived, perhaps. Last night, right before bed, I had the boys come and put some of their laundry away and when they finished, (for some reason) Brent went skipping through the house and around the island in the kitchen.... Well, he fell and started crying. When I got to him, he was holding his right knee...the same leg that was rotated. :-( So, we'll see how that affects him over the next couple of weeks...we may be fine or we may end up back in the chiro's office.] After the chiropractor's office, the boys and I had dentists appointments where a teeny tiny cavity was found on one of Brent's teeth. So that is getting fixed on Friday morning. Then on me, I was explaining to them how my lower left teeth are really sensitive at times and after their questioning me, we figured out that my root canal tooth (from 10 years ago) was the one giving me fits and that my teeth are hitting together too soon and too hard. So, by using some carbon paper, Doc figured out where and he ground away parts of my upper teeth to keep it from hitting so hard in places. He said it's a work in progress and I may end up needing more done to it, but it is an easy fix. :) At least I won't have so much pain anymore!

Last night was Friendship Sisters reorganization..so I got to go and get a new FS. I'm so excited about the one I have for this year! :) But the coolest part of the evening was when I got home, Terry had put away several loads of laundry, cleaned out a basket of his old shoes (that had been sitting in our room for about 3 months!) and washed and put away another 4 or 5 loads of laundry! WOW! What a man! LOL I know he's really trying to help me out this week knowing that I have so much else going on.

This weekend, while Mom and I are at the craft fair, the original plan was for the guys to rearrange the living room....but I had asked if I could paint when we did that. Terry said he didn't want to rearrange until after I had painted that one wall (cuz it is the entertainment center which is a HUGE pain to move around) and now that I'm running so behind on time, he will most likely just run the wiring this weekend. Then next week I can paint and we'll rearrange things one evening. It will work out okay. We just have to have things rearranged by Christmas.

Speaking of Christmas, I have added my Playlist back to my blog..but this time with some of my favorite Christmas songs on it. Enjoy! We're getting to that time of year when I can't wait to see Christmas things and put my tree up! Believe me, it would be up by now if I thought I could get away with it! LOL But I will settle for listening to the music here on the computer for now. The tree will hopefully go up the week after Thanksgiving, but we'll see. :)

Review Sites

2008-11-10T14:56:00.002-06:00

I sent this out via email, but thought it might be helpful to post it here too! :)
-=-=-=-=-=-

Common Sense Media
This one has a rating system on it that tells you what age it is most appropriate for, what age it has 'iffy' things for, and what age is not appropriate for viewing. Really cool. Plus, you can add your own reviews if you like! It also has a way to search through each category alphabetically...but that is way at the bottom of the page and sorta grayed out. But it's there! :)

Kids-In-Mind
Another one for movies...I don't think it is quite as user friendly, but it's got the information needed.

Plugged In Online
This has been an old stand-by at our house! We love this one and I will continue to use it. VERY useful! The only thing I don't like about it is that the movie reviews aren't out quite as quickly as we would sometimes need them. For instance a movie coming out on Friday doesn't have the review released until Thursday evening. Makes it a bit hard to plan. But other than that, it's good. (We dont' hit the theater very often anyway!)

My suggestion would be to look up a few movies on each website that you KNOW how you feel about and compare what is said on each site to what you feel personally about those movies. That should give you a good indication of whether or not you trust that particular webiste.

He's better!

2008-11-06T11:28:00.003-06:00

Well, the night of the election, Brent woke up at about midnight throwing up and continued with it all night. He finally quit about 7 AM and went to sleep...sleeping most of the morning. Then mid-afternoon he said he was dizzy...so I took his temp. Yep, 101.8! Ugh. So he had fever all afternoon and into the evening, but the odd thing was that it went down throughout the night! When he went to bed it was down to 99.3 and I could tell he was getting better cuz he got contrary. :)

This morning he came bounding out of bed saying he felt so much better! He said he's still dizzy a bit, but other than that he's fine!

What a weird bug....just a few hours! Terry had the same thing apparently last weekend. I really hope I don't get it! LOL

Sad Day for our Country...

2008-11-05T12:22:00.005-06:00

So much to be said, and yet I can't find the words to truly convey what I'm feeling. I am saddened and disappointed. I'm angered and frustrated. I'm tired and yet it's just beginning.

Last night, Senator Barack Obama was elected as our 44th President of the United States. Such a shame. So many people voted for him and have absolutely NO idea what they were voting for, except they knew they were voting for a black man. They didn't pay attention to his stances, his plans, his history, or his policies. They saw a black man and said, "Finally, we can get vindication for all the abuse we endured 150 years ago..." Well, here's news: THEY weren't the ones who endured it. Just because their ancestors were enslaved does not mean that that enslavement holds up for generations. Instead of realizing that fact, many Americans blindly voted for a man that has no business being the POTUS.

Things are about to change in our country...and I don't think any of us can truly predict what's about to happen. Here's a quote from Fox News:

Despite McCain's appeal for unity in his speech, many in the audience wore hard feelings on their sleeves.

Some stood with arms crossed, anger etched on their faces. Others expressed disappointment, even fear. Still others wiped away tears and grumbled when John McCain congratulated his opponent, America's first black president, for making history.

And it was clear on an election night like no other that the hard feelings of a hard-fought campaign would not fade anytime soon.

Jeri Mott, 58, of Tucson, listened to McCain's concession speech with her arms tightly crossed and a look of disgust on her face.

"I'm thinking that I'm real worried about what's going to happen tomorrow, especially about my troops," said Mott, whose son recently enlisted in the Army. "He'd better be paying close attention to what he's doing with our troops," she said of Democrat Barack Obama. "Don't leave them with nothing."

As for the historic nature of the night, Mott didn't much care.

"I have no problem with an African American at the helm. It's his vision of what he wants to do that I have a big problem with."

"The wrong African American," she called Obama.

Molly Pinckney, 60, of Phoenix stood frowning, the red pom pom she earlier had waved tucked by her side.

"I'm really sad. I'm sad for our country." .....

....One supporter muttered, "I'm feeling like doom is coming."

In closing, Kyl cited a Bible passage that seemed as appropriate an ending to McCain's campaign as any.

2 Timothy 4:7:
"I have fought a good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith."

And then there is Sarah Palin. :-) I truly love and admire her! It was during McCain's concession speech that I got the saddest last night....when I saw Sarah's face. She looked truly heart-broken (as you can see below) and let down and my heart just broke for her.

But I don't think we're done seeing Governor Palin! I truly believe she will be back in 4 years to run again. She is one of a kind and deserves our respect for how she handled herself during this campaign. She was ridiculed and run through the muck by the press and by the Democratic campaign, but she held her head high and continued to do what she knew was right: fight for our country.

Now we just wait and see what is going to happen in the coming months. So much has already been said on the news this morning about Obama's plans and the reaction of the troops and the reaction of the rest of the world. Time will tell....

Trunk or Treat

2008-11-03T14:44:00.005-06:00

Saturday night we had a Halloween party for the kids at church. There were some quick crafty things for them to do for a couple hours, food to eat and then they went outside for Trunk-or-Treat. So much fun! Here are some pics of the evening! :)

Only one person decorated their 'trunk' but that was okay...the kids just wanted the candy anyway! :) What a success!

Show Me Palin Power!

2008-11-03T14:17:00.006-06:00

Last Thursday, I had the awesome chance to go see Sarah Palin speak at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau at a Victory Rally. OH. MY. GOODNESS. !!! She was absolutely awesome!!!

The night before, I made some shirts for us to all wear. I used an iron-on process and just made up my own logo. We had a big Missouri outline on our shirts with "Show Me Palin Power" across the outline. We got so many compliments on those shirts...people were saying, "Wow, I haven't seen that one yet...where'd you get it???" Hehe...it was cool to say, "I made them. (Just patting my back a little bit....) You can see part of the shirt on Clayton in the pics below...

Mom wanted to go with me and I had nothing to do with the boys...but what better way for them to spend a morning than hearing their next Vice President in person! So we were all up around 4 AM heading to Cape and getting in line! Wow, what a line there was! The doors opened around 6:30 and we were in and seated by 7:30, so really not bad...and the boys did famously! No complaining and (thankfully) no begging for the bathroom till we got in there! LOL They were SOO tired by the time we got in there, but they very quickly got pumped up! Brent screamed "Sarah, Sarah, Sarah!" everytime the crowd roared! Clayton was squealing in my ear!

Of course, there were many other Republican candidates from the state there as well so we got to also hear Kenny Hulshof and Joann Emerson speak. The color guard came out with the Missouri Flag and the US Flag and all of us....all 8,000 people in attendance....said the Pledge of Allegiance at the same time! I had chills! It was completely an awing experience.

Then Sarah came out with Alaska's "First Dude" Todd Palin....what a cutie! :) Her speech had us off our seats and screaming! Here is a link to the speech from YouTube.

(Incidentally, the next day Arnold Schwarzenegger was at a rally with McCain in Ohio and spoke as well. Here is a link to his talk. Be sure and click on Part 2 as well so you can hear ALL of what he says....wow, what a speaker!)

As we came out of the Show Me Center, there was a guy outside still cheering for Sarah. (I found out after the fact that he was 'removed' from the rally for whatever reason.) Since he was there, I asked if he would take pics with my boys...of course, he was happy to agree! LOL I later saw him on Fox News over the weekend! Way cool!

Then we were walking to the van and we saw all these people lined up at one end of the parking lot. I figured it was something cool, so we went over....and discovered that was where Governor Palin's motorcade would be going when she left! Sweet! So we stood there (much to the dismay of the boys!) and I got this video of them leaving. Sarah is in the 2nd SUV and she is in the back-passenger seat waving. If you zoom it to a full screen video, you can see her waving. :)

Once we were finally driving (0h yes, traffic was tough!) we ended up driving where Sarah's car drove.....I told mom, "I'll never wash these tires again!" LOL Okay, just kidding, but it was fun to be stupid! LOL

We went to eat lunch and nearly everyone we saw there had been at the rally. So many people were smiling at us and saying, "Wasn't it great!?" "What did you like the best?" and other things like that. It was so awesome! I told Terry later that night that I like rallies! LOL He said he wasn't surprised, but wasn't sure if I needed to go to them anymore....I haven't shutup since I got home!

Quirky Kids

2008-11-03T14:13:00.004-06:00

The other night, Terry and I were finishing up our supper at the table and the kids were playing in their room. Soon they came out and I looked at Brent in the living room and just started laughing!! He had taped a little troll doll thing to his face with scotch tape!!! After we finished laughing at him, I got pictures. I'm still not sure WHY he taped it there, but whatever!

Recent Happenings

2008-10-28T15:54:00.004-05:00

Wow, it's been a while! I haven't posted much on here cuz last week there just wasn't much to post! LOL

2 weekends ago, we went to Salem with the Watson's for the annual hayride there. The hayride was okay...but really the most fun we had was when we took them out into the woods and we all got to go 'tree-tipping'. I know, I know...sounds like a really hillbilly thing to do! Well, it is and it's fun!! LOL We basically find old dead trees that are pretty rotten in the root system. Then you just push 'em over! They go over really easy but it's so much fun to watch the kids feel so powerful in the way they can 'move trees'.

Last week was a week of recouperation and time to start getting ready for the upcoming Halloween party and Trunk-n-Treat at church. The boys began seriously preparing for their upcoming Tae Kwon Do tournament that is this weekend.

On Friday evening, I was completely tuckered out and decided that since this was the first in about 12 weekends that we've had at home with nothing to do, I was gonna go rent some movies and we'd veg on Saturday (Terry was sick anyway, so I knew there was no way he'd be up working outside on Saturday!). I am blogging our reviews of the movies we watched here.

On Sunday evening at the end of the worship, there was an announcement by our minister saying that he and his family would be moving on to another location at the end of the year. Oh. My. Goodness. There were tears and hugs and utter sadness for nearly an hour! We were all shocked and saddened, but know that that is us being selfish in our wanting them to stay. This is what they feel they have to do for themselves and is what they feel they have been led to do...but it is NOT an easy thing to accept! I know for myself, I struggled until late afternoon yesterday to be able to not cry every 5 minutes. And Brent was really struggling too...he cried from the moment we got in the van that night until I finally got him to bed around 10, and then was crying again when he woke up the next morning. Thankfully, he is better now. He's still sad, but is better and is processing it well. I know the Lord has good things in store for the M's and for us at Jackson....He will bring someone to us that will help us grow even more!

This week, we are working on Halloween costumes...we just painted them today. They need a second coat and then I can finish the last bit of it...I will post pictures later! :) We're also working on their Halloween bags...I have decided to use canvas bags that they can decorate with paint. I don't like the little plastic buckets you can get and using a pillow case (like I use to do) doesn't work so well with C, who is short! Fun! We're taking a few days break...sort of a "Fall Break"....from schooling. Brent needed it and so did I. He just finished Unit 1 in his books and I thought with all the Halloween activity coming on, it would be good not to have to do school 'formally' this week.

We also have TKD tourny coming on Saturday followed by the Halloween party at church...should be lots of pictures to share next week!

My other blog

2008-10-16T09:51:00.002-05:00

Well, I've had this other blog in place now for a while, but haven't added anything to it...at all. ;) The goal is to have a place where I review and rate movies I see and books I read (mostly it will be books!) so that friends and family have a place to go to see my thoughts on that (if they so desire!). But, I just haven't had the time to put anything over there.

Until today! LOL I just finished a book that I think warrants a review, so it will be my first over there. Eventually I will c&p the ones I've done here on this blog over to that one so they are all in one location and easier to find.

So if you want, here's a link! ABCatHome-reviews

4-H Meeting at the Fire Station

2008-10-14T12:58:00.001-05:00

On Friday we had our first 4-H meeting of the year...and since it was National Fire Safety Week, we had it at the Fire Station. Mr Jeff showed us around and put on his gear for us. (Did I mention that our 'little' 4-H group is made up of all homeschoolers?? LOL) After he finished with his gear, the kids got to explore inside the fire truck, which of course, they thought was completely awesome!

There were all kinds of gadgets on the outside of the truck too. Knobs to push and things to look at!

One particular door that opened was truly fascinating to Brent....the one with all the sharp objects!! LOL He was "wow'd" by the axes and such that you see below. I'm sure you can tell his jaw is hanging open as he leans on the truck looking at all of it!

Near the end of the tour of the truck, the kids all climbed in the back seat area and sat still long enough for a posed shot!

One of them (I don't remember which one) asked about the 'heat sensing gun' to help them find people in a fire. (I am thinking it was Brent cuz he knew about the camera from our trip to the firehouse in Jackson last year...) Mr. Jeff got it out for us and was showing them how it works. Below, you can see his hand in the camera screen where it is on the door. These camera's are really neat...cuz for a few seconds (maybe 15) after he moved his hand, the heat imprint was still visible on the screen. Really cool!

Reason #997,247 to be a homeschooler...

2008-10-14T11:39:00.002-05:00

Class surprises lesbian teacher on wedding day
Jill Tucker, Chronicle Staff Writer
Saturday, October 11, 2008

A group of San Francisco first-graders took an unusual field trip to City Hall on Friday to toss rose petals on their just-married lesbian teacher - putting the public school children at the center of a fierce election battle over the fate of same-sex marriage.

The 18 Creative Arts Charter School students took a Muni bus and walked a block at noon to toss rose petals and blow bubbles on their just-married teacher Erin Carder and her wife Kerri McCoy, giggling and squealing as they mobbed their teacher with hugs.

Mayor Gavin Newsom, a friend of a friend, officiated.

A parent came up with the idea for the field trip - a surprise for the teacher on her wedding day.

"She's such a dedicated teacher," said the school's interim director Liz Jaroslow.

But there was a question of justifying the field trip academically. Jaroflow decided she could.

"It really is what we call a teachable moment," Jaroflow said, noting the historic significance of same-sex marriage and related civil rights issues. "I think I'm well within the parameters."

Nonetheless, the excursion offers Proposition 8 proponents fresh ammunition for their efforts to outlaw gay marriage in California, offering a real-life incident that echoes their recent television and radio ads.

"It's just utterly unreasonable that a public school field trip would be to a same-sex wedding," said Chip White, press secretary for the Yes on 8 campaign. "This is overt indoctrination of children who are too young to have an understanding of its purpose."

The trip illustrates the message promoted by the campaign in recent days, namely that unless Prop. 8 passes on Nov. 4, children will learn about same-sex marriage in school.

"It shows that not only can it happen, but it has already happened," White said.

California Education Code permits school districts to offer comprehensive sex education, but if they do, they have to "teach respect for marriage and committed relationships."

Parents can excuse their child from all or part of the instruction.

On Friday, McCoy and Carder, both in white, held hands on Newsom's office balcony overlooking the rotunda and recited their vows.

"With this ring, I thee wed!" Carder said, shouting the last word for emphasis.

After traditional photos, the two walked out City Hall's main doors where the students were lined up down the steps with bags of pink rose petals and bottles of bubbles hanging from their necks. McCoy, a conferences services coordinator, was in on the surprise and beamed as the children swarmed around Carder.

The two said they have participated in the campaign against Proposition 8 and planned to travel around San Francisco on Friday afternoon in a motorized trolley car with "Just Married" and "Vote No on 8" banners.
The two met on a dance floor two years ago.

"This is one girl I can honestly say deserves happiness, and it came in the form of Kerri," said Carder's friend Dani Starelli.

Creative Arts administrators and parents acknowledged that the field trip might be controversial, but they didn't see the big deal. Same-sex marriage is legal, they noted.

"How many days in school are they going to remember?" asked parent Marc Lipsett. "This is a day they'll definitely remember."

Carder's students said they were happy to see their new teacher married.
"She's a really nice teacher. She's the best," said 6-year-old Chava Novogrodsky-Godt, wearing a "No on 8" button on her shirt. "I want her to have a good wedding."

Chava's mothers said they are getting married in two weeks.

The students' parents are planning to make a video with the children describing what marriage is to them.

Marriage, 6-year-old Nolan Alexander said Friday, is "people falling in love."

It means, he added, "You stay with someone the rest of your life."

As is the case with all field trips, parents had to give their permission and could choose to opt out of the trip. Two families did. Those children spent the duration of the 90-minute field trip back at school with another first-grade class, the interim director said.

"As far as I'm concerned, it's not controversial for me," Jaroflow said. "It's certainly an issue I would be willing to put my job on the line for."
----
Now, I realize this is California and not where I live, but still. If this isn't another reason to homeschool, I don't know what is! So sad....

Grades Report...from LAST year! HA!

2008-10-10T18:57:00.003-05:00

Okay, I know it's a little late for this, but, well, I just got them done! LOL We schooled all summer to make up for what we lost last year with Janice's illness/hospitalization and Terry's surgeries. So, we had just finished with last years' stuff when we jumped straight into this year...I had no time for grading or posting to my 'grade book' (which is just an Excel spreadsheet with multiple tabs that I created last year so it could do all the figuring for me!). So, here we go:

Phonics:
9769/10165 = 96% A

Reading:
4135/4297 = 96% A

Writing:
618/627 = 99% A

Math:
11167/11586 = 97% A

Art:
505/517 = 98% A

So, obviously, B was 'promoted' to 2nd Grade! LOL He did really well last year and is actually past his actual grade when it comes to many aspects of his schooling. We've decided to change Mathematics curriculum this year to Modern Curriculum Press Math...it's sequential, vs the spiral that we had been doing in the past 3 years. We're still using Rod and Staff for Phonics and Reading, and they also sent us a Social Studies book this year that Brent LOVES! It's doing a general study of the world geography, and he's learning all the continents and some of the individual countries within them. Very cool!

2nd grade is definitely more work for him (and me!) but he's really enjoying school this year. Plus, it helps that Daddy is teaching math this year too! :)

More later!

Freed-Hardeman Chorale

2008-10-06T15:52:00.001-05:00

We were truly blessed this weekend! For three years now, the Freed-Hardeman Chorale has come the first weekend in October to stay a night with us and perfrom for us on that Sunday afternoon. This year was no different! The 'kids' came in on Saturday evening and a few of us stayed together to eat dinner and play some cards. Oh what fun we had!!! The card game we learned/played was like Spades and Bunco combined...what a treat! We rotated tables and really got to know each other.

We had Asia and Rebecca...Asia is pictured below, on the left. She's a sweetie and I'm SOOO thankful we've been blessed to get to know her!

The rest of the Birthday!

2008-10-06T15:29:00.004-05:00

Thursday night we gave Clayton his gift from us...a new PINK guitar! This is his reaction:

His first words were: "My very own guitar!!! And it's even pink!!" LOL I just love his love of all things pink!

Of course, Daddy had to 'tune' it (which took forever!) and I kept telling him he didn't need to do much with it, just make sure the strings were tight, cuz the first thing Clayton would want to do would be 'tune' it himself! And, yep, he did. So all that tuning was wasted. :-) Oh well.... But then the boys decided they would "rock this house" (to quote Jack's Big Music Show) and began making their rocking music.

Last Weekend happenings

2008-10-02T15:11:00.003-05:00

This past weekend in Salem, the kids were out playing ball with Terry when they came to get me. They found this bug (below) and we have NO idea what kind of bug it is. I hope the picture is clear enough, but I will give some descriptions, just in case. If you know what this bug is PLEASE let me know! LOL

It has a regular bug like body, and six legs. However, the top of it has hard-like wings, like a beetle. Now, the 'hump' you see looks almost like a triceratops little flat part behind their head, but turned sideways. Then he has these two LONG antennae, a really long head/nose (who 'nose' what it is! LOL) and a red straw looking thing going from his head (?) to the ground. REALLY strange looking. It looks like a type of beetle, but I couldn't find anything online that resembled it! Help!

Also, over the weekend, Darlene gave us a big bag of fresh apples from her trees. We finally got them processed last night after church. We peeled, cored, and sliced them (all by hand, since we didn't know where our handy counter-clamping thing is!). We finished about 11 o'clock and I just put them all in 2 big bowls with a bunch of water. I covered them with plastic wrap and sorta pushed the plastic down till it touched the apples, to minimize air contact. (Smart, huh??) Well, today, I decided to make applesauce out of one bowl and we'll use the other bowl to make some apple crisp for Clayton's birthday tonight.

Applesauce....YUM! I rinsed the apples and put them in a big pot of water, brought it to a boil and let it boil for about an hour. Oh, about half way through the boiling process, I sprinkled in a bunch of cinnamon. Then I drained them, put them back in the pan with some brown sugar and used a potatoe masher on them. Well, I quickly saw that this wasn't going to get it as smooth as I wanted it to be...so I got out the food processor and just whipped them up! I added a bit more brown sugar and cinnamon and had the kids come in and taste...they LOVED it! :) So now it is cooling in a bowl so I can refrigerate it... I thought I would have enough for freezing some of the applesauce, cuz I had so many apples. But it is amazing how much they cook down! Oh well, we'll have applesauce for...uh, maybe 24 hours! LOL

Happy Thursday!

My baby is 6!

2008-10-02T14:53:00.005-05:00

Happy Birthday to Clayton! He turns 6 today and he's SOOOO excited about it. He has been planning this birthday for months and been asking me for weeks how many more days till his birthday! We had a party last weekend in Salem for him with the Salem-family. Darlene made the cake (she's practicing for ReVay's wedding!) and Cory and Maggie decorated it. Clayton LOVED it! (He especially loved eating the fondant!)

Below is him 'making a wish' and then blowing out the candles...and then when opening presents, he felt the need to put the gift bags on his head... Oy. :-)

I will update in the next few days with more photos from the remainder of the activities we have planned!

Wonderful weekend!

2008-09-22T16:17:00.003-05:00

We were childless for the weekend! :) Mom and dad took the boys for the weekend so that we and some friends of ours could go on Saturday to one of the local wineries and take a tour. I'd been there last year with the college girls that came to MO, but Terry still had never been. We really enjoyed the live band and getting to try several different wines so that we could figure out which ones we liked! :)

We went to get the kids last night and they were WOUND! I kept asking mom what she gave them before we got there, cuz they just wouldn't settle down! They were loud and full of energy. But by the time we got home they had settled down considerably. They even commented on how clean the house was when they walked in! LOL Now, if a 5 and 7 year old will notice it when it's clean, it must be really bad beforehand, which it was!

This week is a 'normal' week for us. We have TKD twice and then Presidents with our homeschool group on Thursday morning. We've just started, but we're doing George Washington and John Adams and we'll work our way through the list. I'm really pretty excited about it, as I never learned them in school and have always wanted to learn about the Presidents. Cool!

This weekend, we'll be going to Salem so we can celebrate Clayton's birthday with the family there. It will be our first time going in since the first of August! It's not like us to go so many weeks without visiting, but life has just gotten so crazy! Clayton is excited about getting to FINALLY celebrate his birthday (even though it hasn't even occurred yet), as he's been waiting for months for his birthday! But hey, at least THIS year I have his scrapbook caught up to his 2nd birthday, so we have pictures to share with him. (He's only been asking for that for a couple years, but hey, what can I say???)

K, time to go get them ready for TKD and get supper started. One of these days, Sunny, I'll get some pics on here of myself and get out from behind the camera! :) No one will take pictures if I don't do it! LOL

Campout 2008!

2008-09-15T16:42:00.015-05:00

We have been planning this family camping trip for weeks....months even! Terry promised the boys that he would take them camping by the end of summer and this ended up being the ONLY weekend we had to do it. So, we left on Thursday with plans to come back on Saturday. We went to St. Francois State Park, about an hour from us, and it was truly beautiful! Course, it helped that we were completely alone on our 'loop' for the first 36 hours and the kids could roam all over the area where we were and go exploring in other sites. I told them that as long as I could see them, I was comfortable with where they went. They absolutely loved it!

But the trip started out a bit ....well, shall we say wet! It was sprinkling on us before we ever even picked out our site and backed into it. We were supposed to unload our stuff and go pay for the site, but we knew that since it was raining we would need to get the tent up asap and then go pay. Luckily, the campground host was driving around and came to us while we were putting the tent up and we just paid that way. So nice. Anyway, it rained that entire night! Thankfully, we had a couple extra tarps so we were able to rig a canopy by tying a tarp up between some trees just outside our tent. The rained calmed a bit before supper and we went and got some wood....Let me just say here that whoever is supplying the state parks with wood is making a bundle of money...or perhaps they aren't, but the state is! This little bitty bundle of wood that burns up fast cuz it is so dry is $3. We spent $15 on wood that would have gotten us through the first day, maybe. But we had to have a fire that night so we could eat, so we paid the money. Ugh!

We got back to the site and Terry built a fire, showing the boys how to stack the wood so it would burn well and catch quickly. I was truly amazed at how the boys would just sit out in the rain watching their daddy build a fire and helping him chop kindling. :) Anyway, they finally got the fire going and started roasting some hot dogs. I got the chips, ketchup, mustard, and buns and sodas over under our little canopy. Terry would bring me a couple pokers filled with cooked dogs and I would slide them off with the buns, doctor them up and pass them out. We all sat under the canopy eating our supper while the rain continued to fall! Course, one piece of entertainment was how the canopy would build up a bit of water and then it would fall off...the boys said the canopy was peeing for us! LOL

(Obviously cuz of the rain I don't have any pictures of the beginning of our trip....I didn't want to take the chance of ruining my camera!)

We finally got to bed...the boys were asking for their beds by 8 PM!!! I was shocked! But it was nice for Terry and I...we got to sit out by the campfire and visit, alone, for a couple hours! And the rain stopped just so we could....we only got dripped on by the trees! But once we got into the tent for bed, we had only been laying there about 10 minutes when we heard this loud, "sshhhhhhhhh....thunk!" and then, "Dad, I fell out of bed!" It was Brent. The boys were sleeping on an air mattress that was raised up on a frame and we were on a mattress on the ground. Well, apparently Clayton had continually scooted over to Brent, and Brent kept scooting from Clayton...and ended up in the floor! Poor kid! He fell out of bed twice through the night, so none of us really got much sleep that first night. But oddly enough, we all woke up feeling well and rested...and ready to tackle the day!

Friday morning was a bit cloudy still, but you could see a little blue sky trying to show through, so we were hopeful! We got around, Terry stoked the fire...well, rebuilt it really cuz there weren't any coals left from that dried out wood we had to use....and we had breakfast of Pop tarts, Granola bars, and juice. Very easy but a treat for us, cuz those aren't things we have much at all at our house! We decided to go back up to a place a couple miles from the park where we'd seen a sign for firewood to see what the cost would be. The guy LOADED that back of the van with nice round pieces of wood and only charged us $20! When we got back, the boys helped Terry unload it:

Just a few minutes after we got back from getting the wood, mom and dad came for lunch. We made campfire sandwiches...well, we tried to make them anyway...! If you've never had them, campfire sandwiches are these GREAT camping tools that create sandwiches for you when you stick them in the coals. Most of them are square, but you can find round ones sometimes. They are sort of like hot dog pokers, but have a square compartment at the end instead of the pokers. Anyway, you put in bread, cheese and lunch meat (ham is best) and close it up and stick in the coals. Watch it for a bit (opening and checking it so it doesn't burn, which ours did!) and when it is toasted and the cheese is melted, you pop it out onto a plate and bam-o! You have a hot ham and cheese! YUM! Then at night for dessert, you can butter the outsides of the bread and fill it with pie filling and cook it...instant pie! :)

Well, after mom and dad left, we took the kids to the playground area and to the creek. Oh, the creek was hilarious! It is always amazing how kids can play for a long time with a rock and not want to play at all with toys you have purchased! We skipped rocks and the boys had fun just throwing rocks in the creek. Then we encouraged them to wade into the creek (it was only about chest deep for Brent) and they had so much fun! Brent found this rock (pic below) that he continually would throw across the water, let it splash and sink, and then find it again...only to do it all over again. He played like that for over 30 minutes!

(Left: B splashing himself with his rock. Right: B 'looking' for his rock after throwing it.)

Clayton figured out that he couldn't keep his flip flops on very well in the water (they kept coming off and floating to the top) so he decided to just take them off and play with them!

Left: Clayton watching the dirt 'trail' that he left behind and that floated down-river every time he walked. Right: Clayton "dog-paddling" in the creek.

Just some more misc. creek picture...

These below are pics of Brent's rock that he found and then them together with his rock. He wanted to take the rock home with us but we explained that the State Park wouldn't look too nicely on us taking rocks....

While the boys were in the creek I found some deer tracks that we showed them when they got out. Very cool...and I was SO proud that I was the one that found them! LOL

We finally got them out of the creek and back to the campsite. Terry got the coals going for our supper and then took the kids up to the shower house for showers. While they were gone, I scrubbed taters and got them in the fire for baked potatoes....OH! What a great meal when it's cooked over the campfire like that!

Oh, and another thing happened while they were all in the shower....I was just sitting there, minding my own business when a deer came out of the woods at the top of the loop (couple hundred feet away) and began eating from the grasses that were there. She just stood there for nearly thirty minutes eating and listening, twitching her ears and her tail....but just as calm as you please! It was such a beautiful sight!

After supper, we taught Brent how to play Yahtzee and he loved it! (I always love being able to squeeze schoolwork in without them noticing!) Shortly after, the boys went to bed...they could barely keep their eyes open!

***The One Bad Thing*** I started getting a headache around the time they went to bed. I took some Advil and went to bed myself, telling Terry that I wasn't feeling very good, but didn't really know why. Well, I found out! I woke myself up multiple times through the night moaning in pain from a migraine! I finally got up around 6 and took some migraine meds (I'm so thankful I remembered to bring them with me!) and went back to bed. (It was the worst migraine I think I've ever had! When I got out of the tent to get my meds, I glanced up at the sky to see what the weather was doing. There were a few clouds in the sky and they were pulsating at me! I've never had that happen before. Light sensitivity, yes. But nothing like that!) Terry let me sleep till about 9:30, but he had to wake me up so we could pack up camp and be off the site by 12. I still had an achy head, so I took more Advil and started working. Oh, it hurt!

Anyway, we got everything packed up and I'm so thankful for the wind! It was only because of the wind that we were able to dry everything out before packing it up, so we didn't have to put the tent back up when we got home! :)

Amanda