Just An Update

Thought I'd come by and just update how things are going after the events of the past few weeks. To catch up on what transpired before, you can read here.

As far as the surgery goes, I'm just now starting to not hurt, so that's a good thing. Regarding the symptoms of nausea, faintness and anxiety type attacks (adrenaline rushes I call them), they were really non existent after about a week. Then, it came time for my body to ovulate and the first problem was that my body chose to do that out of the affected ovary. So, pain, pain, pain again. I was okay with that though, I prefer pain over the other symptoms which are more psychologically painful.

The day after this we went to church. I struggled with lack of appetite, some dizziness and weakness but I took almonds to munch on and by the end of the service I was feeling normal. Then, Monday came and Rick was off. I had no reason logically to feel stressed at all and yet the anxiety adrenaline pulsed through my body on and off most of the day until evening. Tuesday I woke up and was shaky and nauseated and faint feeling again. I was trying to make myself eat almonds and drink juice while I struggled just getting through getting the kids ready and making their lunches. I laid down a few times but it was not helping. I was supposed to drive a way to my doctor that morning and it was raining so I made the decision to call Rick home because I was worried I would not make the drive myself very well. In about an hour I was feeling better but he did go down with me.

My doctor was very patient in asking questions and trying to pin point what my specific problem was. She said it sounds like between ovulation and the end of my period I'm in a very unbalanced PMS phase. Evidently this whole phase of the cycle is PMS related. She said there was no good way to know if I was low on estrogen or progesterone due to the cyst messing up my hormones. The only way to proceed was really by trial and error. We start with one and if my symptoms get worse, we know it's the other one. You can imagine my fear of them getting worse, I was feeling like this was a game of Russian roulette with my body. She said that usually the lack is in estrogen and we would start there with the lowest dose patch. The other must do was that I get more calcium. Little did I know that calcium works as a messenger from the brain to the hormones and if you are not getting it in the right amount, your hormones won't balance properly.

It would also seem that my body is under some response to stress even though I myself mentally and spiritually don't feel stressed. I don't feel anxious about anything in my life (except now these attacks of anxiety...which is frustratingly ironic to only have anxiety about having anxiety) but my body seems to be. So, if this is not enough, we may have to try a low antidepressant for a while until my hormones get my emotional and mental stability back on track. Right now, I'm hoping the hormone patch and my concentration on healthy eating will make the difference. It's amazing what an earthquake to you body just a cyst can be.

The last few years of my life have been very stressful but it's funny because if you ask me, I'd truly say and mean it that I'm okay. My personality is to push on and keep going but it would seem that my physical self has born the brunt of the stress.

Thankfully Rick has a good job and now that my doctor has documented these problems medically he can always take emergency leave if the flare ups make me unable to function. I cannot tell you how grateful I am in every normal moment. Whenever I feel okay, I try to give thanks. There is no appreciating normal until you get sick. I keep telling the Lord I need his strength and healing because I want to be able to just do the every day things to take care of those I love. I have a 12 year old daughter about to start an even more intense time in her own hormones, I really need to be on track myself. When it gets bad I don't deal very well with anything above survival and a dramatic tween is not easy to face in these times. It is causing me to cry out to God and lean on him for my every breath.

I cannot deny that I really long for it to be over though. As my doctor says, "welcome to the 30's dear."

Since starting the patch yesterday afternoon I have been a bit better. Last night I felt very emotionally PMSing in my lack of stamina for a stressful situation between Princess and I (again, the biggest challenge on my stress level right now). The biggest part still hanging on is the nausea or just lack of appetite. Yesterday I could only get down about 20 almonds and a yogurt until dinner when I had a piece of lean pork and some asparagus. I did not want to eat any of it. Forcing myself to eat is a new thing for me for sure and it's a sure sign that things are still off. The mornings are the worst time for me. I've started getting up earlier to give my body time to work through the nausea before Rick leaves so I know I'm okay to handle the kids. I have to sit up in bed and sip water and force down 5 or so almonds (the almonds seem to work real well as they give my body a little protein). From there I have been chugging down about 4 oz of juice. Once that settles I'm usually feeling okay. I don't do coffee at all right now, and frankly I'm scared to death of it. It's almost as if the hormone levels are at their worse in the morning just like in pregnancy really. My aversion to food makes it so hard to cook too, just like morning sickness. I think I'm going to have to cook when I feel good.

So, I'm on the adventure, scary as it may be, to get back to normal. I will never take it for granted again and I have learned how important my taking care of myself really is on a nutrition level especially. We women are such a delicate balance that as we get older I think we have to pay more and more attention to our health.

I covet prayers for normal and I'm so thankful for some of you who have been praying. I want my kids to have a normal mom again.

Starting To Make Good On 2010

I spoke about my dreams for the new year a while back. This year I really want to blog about how they are coming to be. That helps keep them at the forefront of my mind as well. So, I have a few updates and then some pictures to share.

I said I wanted to run....

I've been invited to join a friend running a 5k (3 miles) through wine country on March 21. I've chosen this running plan to train once I'm feeling better, which I'm hoping will be in just a few days. I think this will be a great motivator for me to start and 3 miles does not sound too scary yet.

I said I wanted to read the bible chronologically.....

I have started this and have a widget on my side bar here on the blog with that reading plan. Feel free to follow along with me if you like. I just use the references, I don't like to read from the computer screen.

I said I wanted to remember birthdays and do something about it....

Today I'm not feeling well so I'm taking that time to pull out my 2010 calendar and write down upcoming birthday dates. I've all ready started a box for things I find, and am saving containers for things I can make.

I said I wanted us to be an active family....

On Sunday we had our first outing day. We took the kids to the coast for a long walk and beach combing time. At first it was great but as they got tired they started to get whiny about walking so long. They were also begging to get wet which I was not sure was a good idea at this time of year. Despite the dynamics not going so well as we got use to this type of outing together, I do think it was a good day and I know the kids will build their endurance as we do more. It was a long walk for starting out.

Just starting to get a bit tired...can you see the change in facial expressions?

Stopping for a break and some beautiful facial pictures.

I just can't believe she is this tall...I really can't.

Buddies.

There is something magical about Emma in piggies.

Another break, and another time to just enjoy the view.

A request to climb a few trees.

....and rocks.

They finally got to get their feet in at the end.
I was sitting watching them and thinking a lot about the sea. I just forget how much I love it.

Every time we go we say we need to come more often and this year we intend to make that happen.

The Birth Of A New Tradition

I love traditions! We just started a new one. It was birthed out of a decorating inspiration but turned into a neat idea to somewhat separate the beginning of Christmas from the end of Christmas, namely Epiphany.

I have a friend who did a gold and royal blue tree this year and it was so pretty. I thought that next year I'd like to do a tree with blue lights and homemade snowflakes. I still may but ....moving on...

Our tree died out early this year. I saw it coming. I had really wanted to do an artificial tree but Rick loves the fresh ones. I truly, truly understand, but with our desire to leave it up so long (from the end of November to the 6th of January or a few days longer) it just is not possible to have a tree that looks cozy and beautiful that long. I waited hoping I could find a clearance deal and I did. I love this tree. IT has frosted snowy tips that just thrill me for some reason.

Anyway, the purchase and need to switch of the trees led to a conglomeration of creative thinking on my part. Why not do the blue and gold for an Epiphany tree? These colors always make me think of the wise men anyway with their royalty and the blue sky, and the star, and the gold they brought, etc. By changing the tree we can make Epiphany more of a special ending to the 12 days of Christmas as well. So, It just so happened that Walmart had a ton of royal blue balls on clearance this year and I found some stars clearanced off at Pier 1. I also found an amazing new lit up star on clearance. We had one that was lovely but did not light up. We took the ornaments down and are boxing them up. I think next year I will not make the transition until the week before Epiphany so we can enjoy the ornaments longer. I went ahead and did this now to avoid having to redecorate three times. Whew! Many women would not even want to do this job twice but I love decorating and changing color schemes. There are so many different ones to enjoy you know!

I just think its beautiful. Now to find a copy of "The Fourth Wiseman"!

Merry Christmas! How Our Day Went

I'm evidently a very bad blogger now as I did not wish my readers a Merry Christmas! I do hope you all had a wonderful day with your family celebrating our savior's birth. I was so busy enjoying mine I forgot about the computer except for a status update or two on my FB.

We had a blessed day. We were awakened by Emma coming up to our bed and saying "It's 7:30, why isn't anybody up yet!?". Victoria and Caed were both sleeping in and I guess she had had enough of laying in her bed patiently. We got up and turned on the heat (brrr, it was cold!) and Rick made coffee. The children were in awe at the two biggest boxes they had seen in their lives sitting in front of the entertainment center. Indeed, they were the biggest Rick and I had ever wrapped. Mommy sat trying to erase a bunch of unneeded pictures so we could use the camera because we forgot to get a new chip! Rick read the Christmas story from the bible and then handed out the stockings.
After stockings they got to open the main gift. The girls finally got new bikes. They have never had new bikes so Rick and I worked very hard to make that happen this year. Our focus was on gifts to get them moving. Caedmon has had a pretty new bike for a while now so he got a combo big gift of a Spiderman scooter and the Fisher Price Imaginex Batman Castle he has drooled over for three years! He was very excited too. Grandma and Grandpa got them the tetherball they really had been wanting (there is a pole at the back of our complex) so they spent many fun hours outside in the later morning and early afternoon. The day turned out to be gorgeous. I think it must have got up to 65 degrees. Though I would trade it for snow any day, it was a good day for outside gifts.
We purposefully waited to give them their gift from my grandma because it was a Wii! Instead of separating the money she sends for Christmas and mine and the girls birthdays, we pulled it all together to make this happen. For near 13 years Rick and I have not purchased any game system or our children. They used my old Nintendo to play the retro stuff but that was it. We never liked kids parking themselves for hours of doing nothing. The Wii we felt was a perfect compromise since it involved movement. My mom gave me birthday money and I am so excited that I got to purchase the Wii Fit system. In the new year I will be learning Yoga! I tried it out on my friends system a few months ago and thought it was amazing! We are all very excited. The girls screamed out loud when they opened the box, and then they took off running down the road (Emma in her socks) to tell their neighbor friend (who got a Wii that morning for Christmas) that they got one too! It was very fun. Caedmon did not run down with them though, he actually ran back to his bedroom to work on his Sponge Bob Lego's from Grandma and Grandpa O. that he loved. He really did not get what the Wii really was. Now he loves it and is very good at boxing and knocking the guy out. He makes the "push! push!" punching sounds while he plays despite the fact that the game makes the hitting sound effects for you. The girls are thoroughly annoyed by this but Rick and I thought it was so cute.
My dear husband got me some real roller skates! I've wanted some for years. I'm an old school girl and don't like roller blades. I'm really looking forward to getting out there while the kids are biking and trying to catch up with them. I use to be able to spin and skate backwards. Give me some Roxette in my headphones and I'll be a happy girl!:)
It was just a good day of hanging out and spending time together. We did not go anywhere at all all day long. It was great.
In the evening my mom and brother came by and it was time to celebrate Victoria's birthday. I will be doing a "What I Like About You" post for her soon. She is now 12! Amazing. We had brownies and candy cane ice cream (I have yet to have any as I was so tired of food by then). Nana gave her two new dresses , some great funky nail polish and a cotton candy perfume spray, Grandma and Grandpa sent a movie and a book called "Better Than Beauty: A Guide To Charm". I better not read that one, I'll be way to aware of my lack of charm...LOL! They also got her some lights for her new bike. Rick and I got her a Wii dance pad and game but the pad did not work so we have a return to make. Grrr. The dance games are great exercise! She is anxious to try them out. I think her favorite present though was from her Aunt Joan and Uncle John. It was a horse jewelry box with her name engraved on the front.
We ended the day watching The Nativity movie. I forget how much I love that movie. Despite the inaccuracy of the timing of the wise men coming, it's just such a good telling of the story. I enjoy ending the day with the real meaning of the day.
Before I go though, I would like to highly recommend the Veggie Tales Saint Nicolas movie. We personally have always told our kids who the real Santa was and what he did. I think the attention to him for who he really was through this little movie is so great though. I am absolutely sure that Saint Nicolas, were he here, would be appalled that we have idolized him and more than that let him take the spotlight Christ deserves at Christmas especially in the hearts of the little children. I know that is an unpopular view to take but I think we need to honor the man properly and remember what he did without adding the fiction elements turning him into something he himself would be ashamed of.
I hope to share our few pictures soon!
Blessings to you all and enjoy the celebration as it continues! Epiphany is still to come!

How 'Bout Them Kids

I'm so busy with the children and their lives, I don't have enough time to write about it all!

I had parent teacher conferences yesterday and I was so blessed that they are doing so well.

Victoria is a self motivated academic. I am so blessed by the Lord in this. She is keeping straight A's and is going to be getting the student of the quarter award tomorrow. She got it her first quarter in 5th grade as well. So, I'm glad to see her diligence and character in the classroom is continuing. She is the teachers helper and is very efficient I hear at entering data into the computer. Now if we can just get her to keep her desk (and room for that matter) clean, she will be on a roll!:)

Socially however, this year has been tough. Many of her friends from last year have taken a bad turn down female-pecking-order lane. Some of them have grades that are dropping because they are not focused on their school work. They have been very awful to Victoria and ostracized her. I found out yesterday she has been trying to stay in at recess too. Her teacher and I talked about the situation and she is going to try to encourage her to get outside and also to start mingling with a few other girls in the class headed in the right direction. Rick and I see it as a blessing that these girls won't let her in their social circle because we think God is using that to protect her. That's a hard thing to explain to her though.

Emma Bear is once again shocking us with her performance. Last year her teacher was perfect for her and very laid back. This year we knew she was getting a kind teacher but one who was not so much laid back. The transition has been just what Emma has needed. She is becoming so responsible and is motivated to make sure we check her homework, sign her agenda, and drill her on her multiplication tables. He teacher said she is very bright and has interesting questions and observations as they go along. Emma also comes up with dual ways to solve problems. I am not surprised by that because she has always been the problem solving type. It was good to hear that she is doing so well. Especially since she is in a combo class where most of the students are in 4th grade.

Caedmon is doing excellent on his academics. He has been "zoning out" a great deal in class however and I got a great chance to chat with his teacher about this yesterday. Caedmon has a different kind of attention problem than most boys. With typical boys, they get the tiniest bit distracted or bored and they start to get noisy, fidgety, and disobedient even. Caedmon does the opposite, he secludes inside himself. His brain goes far, far away to who knows where. He is still quiet, so it's hard to tell that he's not with it at the moment. She did have him in the back of the class because he was ahead on an academic level but she has since moved him to the front for a while to make sure he is not spacing. He is still one of the youngest in the class so we also feel that his brain development will help with this phase he is going through. Somehow though, when he is with it, he catches everything he needs to know to do his work. Caedmon would be a great kid for homeschooling in some regards, and the worse for others. His tendency to seclude would be catered to especially because he has no other boys to play with at home. Being at school pushes Caedmon in ways he needs to be pushed. He is rather calm and inactive and would prefer a day of tinkering with his Lego's and toys rather than getting moving. It's great that he can come home and do that but part of the day he really needs more stimulation both academically and socially.

All three of the kids are enjoying Awana this year as well. They did not want to go but we insisted they needed the fellowship and teaching. Caedmon just earned his first jewel and was very excited. Emma is plowing through sections so fast her leader had to tell her she could not listen to them all one night or she would not get to hear the other kids ones. She did about 8 in one week. Victoria just moved on to another book as well in TNT.

So, that's the news from here.

A New Adventure Of Trusting God

Monday I had to call 911. I was having an experience I've had before. Back in May I had this scary episode of light-headededness and my heart racing and thumping. I had just woken up and nothing stressful was going on. Still, at the ER they did tests and everything came back good. I was told I had probably had a panic attack. I was so frustrated with this because I did not agree. Turns out I was right.
On Monday I had been having a little lunch with Rick and Caed. I stood up to gather my things and got very dizzy. I started to feel like I was going to pass out. I sat back down and asked Rick to bring me some ice water. He was on a lunch break so I really needed to get feeling better to at least get home. After about five minutes I felt I could drive. All the way home (a ten minute drive) I was trying to relax and kept splashing ice water all over my face. I was scared to pass out while trying to get home. At home it got worse. I tried to lay down but became so uncomfortable and it became difficult to breathe. I called my mom and then got worried about Caed alone in the house if something happened to me. That pushed me to call 911.
I'll cut through a lot of drama here to get to the end. All the tests were fine in the ER, and I could have predicted that. They told me to follow up with my Dr. and Rick was able to get me an appointment the next morning. We left a little early for that as it started up again in the morning about 45 minutes before my appointment.
I have a wonderful Doctor, let me just say that. He was the first person to not look at me like I was nuts. He said I had PAT which stands for "Paroxysmal Atrial Tachycardia". Basically my heart will spontaneously decide to take off unexpectedly and beat extremely fast. IT is related to hormone cycles as well and triggered by caffeine, even a little. So, I'm off caffeine and I have to learn how to manage it if it happens again. My doctor was helpful in that and said that if the episodes are more frequent, which I PRAY they are not because they are so scary, then I can take a medicine when they help to slow down my heart racing. Next week I will be wearing a heart monitor for a week because if you are hooked up when this happens, they can catch it. I doubt it will occur again but I'm going to wear it anyway. There was a six month gap between this episode and the last one.
So, anyway, enough drama for a while for me. I'm very thankful for some answers.

Life In A Few Words and Pictures

As you can see, blogging is beyond the back burner right now. It always comes down to making the best use of my time. However, I thought it was time I come by and tell how we are.

It's raining today! Another reason I decided to write a bit. The kids woke up this morning so excited and were looking forward to playing "Head's Up 7-up" in class today. I had forgotten about that game until they reminded me and I could not believe they still played it! I have strong memories of having my head down with my nose so close to my desk and I remember well the way it smelled.
Life is busy but good right now. Somehow my kids have managed to stay completely healthy this whole school year so far (no use in crossing fingers, it WILL hit us sooner or later). I know they had some bad stuff, even H1N1 right before school hit so I'm thinking that their immunities are heightened.
Rick is working the first day in the rain today. He got a snazzy new Postal rain coat that he pulled out this morning. He says it's working wonderfully. I'm glad because he use to get soaked. He asked me take some pics of him recently so he could have a new Facebook picture and this was my choice. (Handsome and smart...what can I say?)

He is getting settled into his new rotation of mail routes and even got a tiny raise. Though, it seems you don't see them for long when the prices of gas go up!

Victoria just came off having a HUGE sleepover party here. I was babysitting my friends four children that night too so we had a total of 17 kids in the house for a few hours. The occasion was that her best friend has to move to Idaho. She seems to be doing well but it was hard since this was a new friend that she had really hit it off with. It was a crazy night with eight girls in her room. We won't be doing that any time soon.
(This was just some of them, the others would not let me take their morning hair pictures)


Victoria's teacher had a 8th grader bring in a lost stray kitten last week. I happened to still be at the school when Victoria came tearing down the hall saying that I HAD to come see this kitten. I told her "absolutely NO way!" but walked with her to appease the just looking part of her request. I walked in the door to see her teacher looking at me with a "have pity" plea look on her face. "Don't even look at me like that!" I told her. Well, it turned out her teacher was worse than she was. I got talked into taking it for now with the promise that her teacher, who has a ranch, would help us with getting it's health needs taken care of. So, this is stray rescue #6 people. It's killing me! Although I have to say, the new plan is that they get fixed and they go OUTSIDE! I cannot handle living in a feline zoo.
(We are not sure if the kitten is half blind in the left eye. It is not actually as dark as the photo shows but it is a darker and more cloudy eye.)

(He is not named yet, and I'm delaying since we don't know what we will do with him yet)


(Emma found him this way on her bed. No one wrapped him up, he just crawled in and took a nap. See, how do you turn that sort of cuteness away? Help!)




Emma and I got the great opportunity to go to the special ceremony of the re-opening of the mission. I don't have pictures but we were in the paper I hear. I still have not been able to get a copy of it though. Senator Abel was there, and that was cool since I have not seen him in person since Rick and I took Victoria to meet perspective president George W. when he rode the train and stopped in our area years ago. Abel was on the train with him.
The mission looks great and will be wonderful to be able to visit again.


I've been helping in Caedmon's class this year, giving out the Friday assessments. I actually just started but it will be a regular Friday thing. It's very fun for me to do and reminds me of that part of my brain I used when homeschooling.



Victoria and I donated our hair to Locks of Love recently. That was fun. I need to get a picture of her though (the above one at the post sleepover breakfast table is not a fair one:). She had wanted to cut it for a while because her hair is very hard to comb through when it gets long. I had wanted to grown mine even further but my patience ran out when I started to get it caught all the time.
Glad to report that I've lost 10.8 lbs. as of last night through going to TOPS. It has not been easy. I made no progress in the summer and in fact I put on weight through it, but the last two months our structure has helped me a great deal. I began by doing way too much working out and could not function very well through the afternoon. I was trying to push myself on a Biggest Looser level of my own. It backfired on me since I still have to be here in every day life and survive the rest of my day! I learned a great deal though this. It was actually the Lord convicting me to slow it down that allowed me to find out I was doing too much. I was literally on the treadmill one day and had 20 minutes left when I was impressed that I should GET OFF. It did not make sense to me why I should not push through the rest but I did get off and found myself convicted to take my exercise (which had been an hour of cardio and 45 minutes toning almost every day of the school week) down to just 45 minutes of either a day. Amazingly, once I did that, I not only had more energy for the day as a whole, I began to loose the weight. I do have to say I have taken the advise of Dr.Oz and limit my food options. This made sense to me because it meant it would take my brain off of food. That was what I really needed to do. The last two weeks I have had the exact same thing for breakfast (and yes I'm about ready for a new option) and either sardines and WW crackers or tuna w/ mustard and crackers for lunch. I try to have a fruit or veggie with each or in between. Dinner is always having to be tweaked a bit but for instance, one night I made a spaghetti squash with our spaghetti and salad dinner and I had my turkey meat sauce on the squash instead of noodles. Just little changes like that. I'm watching the portions and numbers on things and I'm avoiding night eating. I'm also learning that just because I make something for those I love, does not mean I need to have it too. At least not till this journey is over, but even then I need to be more self-disciplined.
My job at the daycare has been a good fit for our family. There are a few high strung boys there though and my kids are usually appreciate of the quiet when we get home. It's been a blessing to be able to do a little something and have the kids there with me. I don't know if I could do more right now and still keep up on the house and things that need to be done here at home.

As far as activities go, the girls dropped their special after school classes out of exhaustion and I was fine with that. I had been worried that although they sounded fun, it was important to not cram so much in after a full day of school. I wanted them to have time to rest and play.

We are however taking eight children (including ours) to Awana now! That has been exciting. The 1st and 2nd grade boys of the lady I work for at the day care started coming with us. They are really enjoying it. The girls want to invite more kids and I just don't know how many we can take! Awana is exploding this year and it's a great thing to see all these kids coming to learn about salvation.
Rick and I have joined a C.S. Lewis reading group as well. This month we are reading "Mere Christianity". My dear friend Donna has put it together and I'm very excited about it. I have been burdened for a year now to really dive into Lewis and Rick and I get to do this together. Her lovely daughter has graciously offered to watch our kids during this once a month meeting so it made it easily possible for us. Our kids LOVED playing at their house and did not want to go home.
We just hosted our church community group this last weekend and will be hosting it this week. We rotate homes. It is such a blessing to have these small groups and go over the sermon of that morning, worship in song with the children, and eat a collaborated dinner together.
Well, gotta run and do one more thing before heading out the door to work.
It was quick, but hopefully it was a good update!?

Just Waz Up And Some Muscle Building

I have had so little time for blogging lately. Since school has started my life is so structured which is great but I don't have more than just five minutes now and then to update my facebook status and that's it. I hear some people chat how they never could have time for facebook but if you just check in with people by reading updates, and you put your own, it is the quickest way I know of connecting. It's the blogging that has taken a back seat in my life for now. It's hard too because I have so many blogs go through my head.
So, you would think that a mom with three kids in school would have so much time on her hands for her hobbies and what not eh? Nope. No matter what situation, a mom's work is never done and I am never bored. Keeping the house ready for the next thing once the family is home keeps me hopping every moment. On top of that I'm taking some big time to exercise this fall and once I do that a big chunk of my time for the house is even gone. It's wroth it though and I've needed to get myself back on track from years of putting other things first. It's a great benefit to my family and husband for me to drop a few.
I've not had time for a Thankful Thursday this week but I have to say I've been so thankful for some heavy teachable moments with my children. It would seem that having them out there in school is just a different approach to preparing them for life. When we had them at home we prepared them hypothetically and now we do it experientially. The thing with the hypothetical was that I was not creative enough to think of all the hypotheticals and they were not real enough to demand being teachable moments. Now, very interesting things happen that give us wonderful springboards of conversation. How is the right way to deal with this? What would bring glory to God? What do you do when you are tempted to do what your friends are doing? Do you obey friends or God? Are you patient when being wrongly judged? Do you kindly learn to speak up for yourself? Here were some situations this last week or two:

-Victoria has a friend who comes up and acts like she is going to get something out of her hair and instead proceeds to just yank a bit of her hair out. This girl is a quiet aggressive and has shown some signs of being jealous of Victoria for some reason. Her ways are manipulative and unexpectedly insulting. Victoria had to learn to be forgiving but to speak up when someone does something like that and not just take it quietly.

-Caedmon got caught up in a 1st grade tease of a little boy who all the other boys were saying "wore his sisters underwear". We discussed how something being funny does not make it okay. How the one being teased will possibly even laugh but that does not mean they like it but rather that they are covering their shame and embarrassment with laughter. How God convicts us in the middle of these times as to what is right. Caedmon did feel that convicting but decided that since the boy was not saying he didn't mind that it was okay. We talked about the good meter to use of thinking how we would feel if such things were said about us and to always trust the conviction of the Holy Spririt of God.

-Caedmon did a fake stutter back to a little boy at school who stutters. This one was hard for me. It actually made me tear up to know he had done that. Having had a brother who was disabled and standing up for him when he was teased made this a sore spot for me. I needed a moment before we could even talk. We discussed how some children have to be even more brave than he ever will have to be to say what they want to say and always be teased for not being able to speak clearly. How blessed he is to be able to communicate well and how he can be an encourager to the child who struggles instead of making him shammed through mocking.

-Victoria makes a project in science and turns to her supposed friend to ask what she thinks and her friend replies "it looks like crap!". This friend was the one girl who professed to be a Christian and who Victoria had high hopes of being a good pal for her in school but the girl flips between wanting to be cool and popular and wanting to be a faithful friend. She is one of those what I use to call "light switch friends". I seemed to gravitate to girls who did that to me. They are your friend when THEY want to be but when it's inconvenient or uncool they want nothing to do with you. You are kind of their fall back plan. It's a painful thing to go through and she has weathered it very well. Thankfully there is a new girl in her class who has been a cheerful companion to her this year and who has also been troubled by some of the same girls Victoria has so they can relate on that level. Victoria is learning to love her friends even when they are sometimes unkind. The group that has been rough for her are the three girls we usually take to Awana so she has had to stay dedicated to taking them there with her to hear about the Lord even though she has been badly treated by them many times at school.

Those were just the ones off the top of my head.
I marvel sometimes what God must have in mind for my children. Knowing that he has called them to this place tells me that he has a specific set of preparation for them unlike what I could give them by keeping them home. He is building their armor and sharpening their defences as well as their convictions to bring Him glory through all things. I feel honored and challenged to give them what they need at every barrier they face. To seize those teachable moments even when they come fast and plenty! I definitely think you can prepare a child at home for the world and I definitely think you can prepare them from home while they are facing it. There are unique outcomes for both that God will use in their lives. Where we are fits us. It's where the rubber meets the road and for me that's where I can teach the best. Give me the situation Lord and I'll shine your light on it. Throw me one and challenge me to catch it. There is no time for hit and miss training when your kids are in school now days. You have to talk a lot and connect on everything. You have to be all ears. They are out there, in the real world with real people facing real issues. We are so much better at this part with our kids than the academics and I thrill at the challenge. This is why I love working hard on the home all day as well. That way, if we need to sit and talk at the dinner table longer about something, or just congregate in the living room for the evening to discuss life, we can.
I have no fear of what will come next. I look forward to it. There is always sufficient truth in God's treasure house of wisdom to give them. It is a privilege to hold their hands through it until someday we let go and they walk with Him alone through this world. As He leads and we walk through some places I may have chosen to shelter them from, I am thankful that He knows better how to build the foundation of their lives. Other wise I may have opened their cocoon for them thereby disallowing the full development of their spiritual muscles and when they hit the freedom of their transformed lives they would fall in weakness completely unable to survive.
As I work lately to build back my own physical muscles I think of God's goodness to stretch and build my children. Our job is to feed them well from truth and care for them between times so they are stronger and stronger each time resistance or challenge comes their way.

Pictures!

Just before school started the kids were locked in with the heat (though Caed is sporting a nice long sleeve shirt:*) and trying to keep themselves entertained. Caed opened his own French restaurant (notice his spelling) and made a sign for it too.

I have too many cats in my life because my kids keep talking me into rescuing kittens the size of your palm and I don't fight them very hard. This new litter found in our carport at just about 5 weeks of age is growing big and we only have the two twin boys (we call them twins because they are so identical that we can hardly tell them apart...not a white smudge on them). Their sister we found a home for. You may all ready know that last summer we took on two grey tabbies, a brother and a sister and we still have those as well as a cat from our A-town home that came up to us starving to death. They all love to cuddle with the kids.

Emma reading and listening to her tunes. My kids are archaic, they don't have I-pods or MP3's

Funny picture of Emma. The girl is always in motion!


Sterling prefers Victoria but he sure gets in some amazing nap time formations. He is seriously deeply asleep I promise.

Ceadmon and Clark (Clark Kent that is, and the other one is Bruce Wayne). Clark is the skinny-mini kitten. First Day of School! Gotta have that headed out the door pic of the year!:)
Caedmon in his 1st grade class. Desks are new this year!

Emma in her 3rd/4th combo class. Both kids have their bags of supplies to load their desks. They were very anxious to get those.

My big 6th grade lady. Trendy in her cut offs for the first day. :)


Saturday, school was done for the week, and we had stayed focused. Now it was 108 or so outside and we ended up locked in for the day. We were all very tired all day. Emma fell asleep for a 3 hour nap with Bruce on the couch! I love pics of sleeping children. The brown smudge on her lip was from a fall at school on Tuesday trying to get to the bus. She was a little worried about missing it at first but now they have done great. It's a new thing for them this year and even though it's just the first stop down the road, (where I'm working for an hour and a half at a day care) and the kids really wanted to, it's not my preference. I enjoyed picking them up last year and chatting with the teachers more. For this year though, it's the Lords provision for us for a little more grocery money.

Sunday Pasta. Today we wanted something simple for dinner and the heat is back. I love coming up with great combos. This one will be going on the Domestic site soon. The kids know I take pics of dishes so I can put up the recipe but Caed wanted one with him in it. I ended up loving his face. I Love my baby's blue eyes.

The First Week Of School

I have a few pics but I'll have to add those later. The heat is making me very unmotivated today and way too hungry. Just like the summer, no tight schedule and hot bored kids locked in the house. Humph.
So, I thought I'd try to update how our first week of school went for those who care to know.

Victoria's class is a bit smaller this year (only 28 rather than 36) so I'm excited about that. I think her new teacher this year will help Victoria's personality of needing firmness with grace. She is all ready a class helper by getting to enter class attendance into the computer.
Emma is in a combo class for right now. She was chosen along with ten other 3rd graders, to be in a 3/4th combo class. She did get the teacher I wanted (after Mr.E, who I had growing up, and who I really wanted for her got transferred to the school in the country) and I understand the combo class but what I'm not happy about right now is that they have her lunching and playing with the 4,5 and 6th graders. I called the Principal and he said they are trying to work some things out and even get a solid additional 3rd and 4th instead of the combo. I voiced my concerns and he was very respectful. My point was that the issue was the socialization with the older kids when I felt she was not ready. The 1st,2nd, and 3rd graders usually have their own playground with swings and jungle gym but the 4th, 5th, and 6th is a smaller more boring play area because kids at that age usually do basketball, dodgeball, or chat. I told him I felt it would not hurt some 4th graders to mingle with youngers, but it would be pushing those little 3rd graders to mingle with olders. If there is no change by this week, he will be hearing from me again. The difference between a 3rd and 6th grade girl is massive on a social level.
Caedmon has my old homeschool teacher, Mrs.B and I was happy for that. I worry about her because she has 28 1st graders. I helped in the class most of the day yesterday so she could get some assessments done of the kids and it's amazing how the bad, no..NON-EXISTENT listening skills of some take up all the teachers time sometimes. I applaud them all for keeping with their job with the lack of parenting kids have now days. Mind you, they are still fresh out of kindergarten and by the time they get up in the grades, they learn what is expected and what is not allowed but just to have all that to deal with is tough. I'm thankful Caedmon is so ahead in his academics so I don't worry about him falling behind. If he was a struggling student, I don't know if he would get the attention he would need. Right now he is assessed as second top of the class out of the 28.
As far as my week as housewife went, it was great. I had created a simple and strict schedule for the family and it's working well.
My mom had a bad scare this week though. She was at work and had terrible pain in her chest that went through to her back and shoulders as well as up to her chin. She drove herself to the hospital since I was too far away and she was very worried (I wished she had called 911, but she said she did not want to make a fuss). I got there about 10 minutes after she did and they were hooking her up for tests. I stayed most of the day, and thankfully Rick was off to get the kids. Her tests came back fine but they kept her for observation. Even the CAT scan had good results so she went home last night. She is resting today and does not have the pain at all. We are still not sure what it was.

Rick has started to get use to his new job as a T-6 (he does a different route every day). It has been so hot this week it's been tough. I'm really looking forward to cooler weather. The schedule we were on made for a very nice week with low family stress. We both enjoyed it very much.
Hope next week is good too but not expecting perfection, that's for sure!

The Sun Sets on Summer

Today was it, the last day. Emma is beside herself with excitement, Victoria got excited about a week a go in a big way, and just today Caedmon got on the wagon. I don't influence them or manipulate their feelings in anyway either way, so it's fun to see them develop their thoughts on their own. I was shocked though when Caedmon said he was excited. When I asked him what made him excited he said "having a new teacher". He loved Mrs.E. from last year, but am glad he is excited to be in Mrs.B's class. The amazing thing to me is that when I was 13, Mrs.B was my teacher through home study and she came out to bring me all my things and check in with me and my mom. I liked her then, and she is so the same. She just has silver hair instead of black. She always had the sweetest caring face. I've learned from observing her style at school, that she is very caring, but is also very intent on holding the children to account for their behavior. I see her out almost every day after school chatting with a parent to fill them in on what the issues of the day might have been, or what positive things she sees.

Today, we went to church after Rick picked up the kids from our friends who kept them all night. Not the best idea. Victoria had saved all her tiredness attitude for us and was immediately negative about how the boys in the next tent kept the girls up all night. We tried to explain that was part of the fun of the outing. She just was showing obvious signs of not getting enough sleep. So, after church they took naps.

Now, usually, they don't sleep, but they do just read or play quietly while daddy and mommy sleep a bit. Today, Rick had to wake them up to squeeze in their last trip to the pool for the summer. He took them for about an hour and I did some clean up.

They came home and I made a big batch of Pesto Pasta w/ fresh tomatoes and shrimp. I've been blessed with a neighbor who grows basil so Rick just went down and got some and I made the pesto fresh....ah, yum. Shrimp is a delicacy in our house and all the kids were elated to get it. We ate outside in front of the house, they on a blanket, and daddy and I on patio chairs. It was very relaxing. They finish and climb in daddy's lap, or swing on the tree branch while we chat about their excitement for school tomorrow.

We came in and they got ready for bed while I made a peach cobbler from the peaches we picked with friends the other day. Rick read some bible stories to them and Emma read from Psalms. She loves to read Psalms. They were given their schedules and read over each of their own. Not too complicated, and very similar except Victoria wakes up a half an hour earlier to shower and have her quiet time, and she goes to bed a half an hour later.

Then, it was off to bed as quick as you can! They have all been asleep for a while now and I'm loving that it's only ten! I cleaned up the peach mess and the counters to be ready for my morning tasks. The cool air is coming in and the bedroom fan is inviting me to put my feet up and chat with my sweetie.

The summer was good. It was not as hot as usual. The kids had lots of fun that was free (and funny!:) and we are all very ready for the fall season and all the people we see each day. God is good and his mercies are new every morning. I'm so thankful for the joy we have of following him.

I also start my new job tomorrow which is only for an hour and a half but it will be different to do any kind of work outside of home. I'm excited. I'm also excited to finally mop the kitchen which has not been mopped all summer! AHHHHH!

Little Piggies Have Piggie Flu

The last seven days started out great. We were just getting on top of some things, enjoying full implementation of theme nights, and pay day was on it's way. We even had babysitting scheduled for a date evening. Alas.. these little piggies got swine flu.

I was not sure what it was for most of the duration of Superkid's spell with it. Thursday a fever hit him in the afternoon and by the middle of the night he was at 104 and I could barely keep it down to 103 with meds. He was crying with body ache and even convulsed a tiny bit at one point. I stayed awake most of that night worried about him. The next day he slowly went down and by Saturday he wanted to go out and play. I let him thinking he was fine. He came in and spiked back up to about 102 and we said "well, no church for you tomorrow baby!" Rick stayed home with him because I had to teach Sunday school. He was fine again by the evening or at least we did not take a temp that night because he seemed fine.

Monday Lilo and Princess got the wonderful opportunity to go to the fair with some friends. They were very excited because we could not afford to go at all this year. I dropped them off with the mom at a MacD's so that Superkid would not have to know what he was missing. I did not want him going out to something that draining yet. I took him out for a happy meal and we hit the goodwill for a bit. We had just returned home when my phone rang and the mom said Lilo was not feeling well. Her stomach hurt and her throat. I ran back into town to pick her up. I felt so bad she had to get sick on such a day. She climbed up to 103 by the evening but Superkid seemed fine so I let him go on a short playdate while I was at my TOPS meeting. He sounded real dry and raspy in the throat but insisted that he felt fine. I should have known better. By the time he got home he spiked up to near 102 AGAIN!

Tuesday morning I just felt something was not right. He had a 101 when he woke up and Lilo was staying near 102. I called and made an appt. Rick was off so we all went down.

The Dr. checked them both out completely and ran a mucus test from just Lilo's nose to check for swine flu. He said they had all the exact symptoms. He came back and said the test never had false positives, but it was having false negatives. Ours was negative but he felt they still had it. He said the flu had changed from a 8-9 day fever to 4-5 day. So we were sent home to watch them and wait it out. They are not allowed to be around anyone till a good 24 hours from even the lowest temp.

We opened up the couch bed in the living room so they could rest and watch movies if they needed to. Before even watching they took a three hour nap. They really looked like they needed it. The kitties took long naps too.

Lilo's like me though, she prefers her own bed for real sleeping.

The other kitty (and I'm not sure which one this is, they look so alike you have to stare at their faces to know who is Bruce Wayne and who is Clark Kent. maybe I should make them little capes so we know:) took up nap time with Sterling who peeks to see what I'm up to.

Princess and Shasta were the only ones awake besides me. Princess was doing her favorite pass time making bead creations.

But like I said, before this hit, the kids were really enjoying theme nights. Sunday was no electricity night and it was wonderful. I brought nearly every candle we had to the table and lit them all. Then we disperse them through the house and enjoy the quiet. Stories were read, Princess wrote in her journal, Lilo read poems from Shel Silverstein and Daddy wrote a note to his folks. I shared with the kids somethings I thought were amazing from my Sunday School lesson for the 2 and 3's that day. (I hope to Overflow that soon) I was amazed the power of the quiet and the lack of electronic distractions, and we don't even have near as many as most families have. It was well worth taking up. Superkid and I found some bags of candles at the goodwill so we are stocked up for a while. He was excited to find another old fashion brass tapper holder like the one I all ready had and was letting Lilo use. They look like the ones in old story books. Like this:

Once he found it, he asked me how many more days till Sunday. I think this tradition will be wonderful when school starts and we can quietly reconnect before the week.

Today they are feeling better but I have a bad head cold. I felt it coming on last night but I was pushing myself to get those free school supplies at CVS and boy am I glad I went! Free notebooks (again, now I have four or five), free pens, free tacks, free clips, free staplers, free sticky notes, free erasers, free rain checks for index card organizers. Glad I did it. Between the CVS week specials I've got nearly more than what they need and hope so have some to share with the teachers.

I have been resting this morning and they have been too but I plan to take some day time cold meds and get back in that kitchen because I have a box of apricots to jam and I'm excited to get that done. My friend gave me the heads up that there was a tree in the country that had a sign to take as many as you want so Rick and Princess went yesterday to pick. We also swung by the field of blackberries in A-town. when we were done with the Dr. just to see if they were ready and they are. It's an open field next to a gas station and there are tons! Rick loves blackberries to I plan to gear up for a few hours of picking soon and want to preserve some of those too. I was worried I did not have enough jam jars and knew I had little money for supplies so I went out to the shed to see if I could fine a handful among the large canning jars. Oh, my, word. I found I had three boxes full! Yeah! It's been years since I jammed.

Oh, and one last "yeah, God" I have to tell you! We were nervous about the kids going into the Dr. because it's 50 dollars for two of them to go in. I got there and asked the lady if I could be billed for part of it. She said they prefer you pay all of it then and there. I said a sheepish okay and then she said "oh, but you have 40 dollars credit!"

What? Who gets credit at the Dr.? She said our insurance over paid something. When does THAT happen?! I only had to pay ten dollars. I could just feel God delightfully smiling and saying "I did that". There is truly nothing he cannot do when our needs need providing from the greater resource of HIS riches and glory. That verse is beginning to take on a new meaning for me.

God is good.