I did the 4 hour round trip this morning and got my lab work done. They took 9 viles of blood. The lab tech tried to figure out how to politely say that she was taking a lot of blood and she wanted a student to observe. It was a little more complicated because one vile had to be put on ice right away. The student was helpful to put the label on that vile right away and get it in ice. The student said she was waiting for a patient to come in and observe getting 11 viles taken. The lab tech said I was that person-the lab tech had counted and combined a few viles and I only needed 9 instead of 11. At least I only needed one poke! 9 viles isn't anything compared to donating a pint, but considering I came by myself and hadn't had anything to eat that morning, the tech gave me OJ afterwards.
After that, I went to Target. It was so nice to go shopping without any Lambs. I took my time browsing, but I didn't really buy very much. I bought some stuffed lambs that the Lambs can use while they are shepherds next Christmas Eve. They were with the Easter stuff. They are so cute. A few people at Target stopped me and asked me where I found them. They had huge ones for $10, but I thought the $5 ones were better for the Lambs (especially Lamb 3) to hold. I've been trying to clean out things here, so I considered if I really wanted to buy these lambs. The Lambs have held them a lot this afternoon and they are for Christmas Eve so I think in this case it was worth 3 more stuffed animals. Besides Target, there was no other place in this small town that I wanted to go shopping.
Today is Ram's day off so he was busy making yogurt and other yummy things for us to eat this week. Now he is making dal for supper. We finally have the ingredients to make Lamb 1's birthday supper!
Monday, March 29, 2010
Saturday, March 27, 2010
24th and 25th Week of School Report
The Lambs were sick last week so I didn't post our weekly school report. Here's what what we did.
Week 24: We had school every day besides Tuesday. On Tuesday our babysitter came and we went to ECFE. The ECFE theme was St. Patrick's Day. On Saturday we went to a Sports and Leisure show in the town 7 miles away. We accomplished a lot in school this week even though the Lambs were sick.
Week 25: We did not have school on Monday when we went to the dentist or Friday when Ewe went to the doctor. I took school books along, but we didn't feel like doing school in the car after all the sickness the week before. Lamb 1 went to ECFE without his brothers because they were ill. The ECFE theme was gardens/planting. The Lambs played outside a lot both weeks as we finally have some warmer weather. Our babysitter did not come this week because we were sick.
Math: Lamb 1 finished lesson 15 in MUS and began lesson 16. I finally watched the DVD for the last few lessons-I got behind. Lamb 1 has become very stubborn about math recently. I know he is capable of doing this math and I wonder if it is too easy for him and that is the problem. I'm learning to sit by him so he doesn't have to be alone but not say hardly anything while he works so that he can be independent. This is VERY difficult for the former classroom teacher in me. But when I do this, there is a lot less frustration during math time. I know some of my friends would say he's only 6 and I shouldn't do formal bookwork with him. But Lamb 1 likes the challenge of math and last fall he was ready for math bookwork. I am the one that needs to learn how best to work with Lamb 1.
Handwriting: Lamb 2 finished his prewriting activities. I have not printed off what I want to work with him next. He's still not ready for letters or numbers and needs more practice with prewriting activities. I may work on dot to dot with him next as I think this would be very helpful for him.
I continue to work on letters and numbers that are giving Lamb 1 problems (especially a and 8). After Holy Week I think we'll begin another round of working on one number or one letter individually each day to fine tune them.
Reading: We continue to read My Book House volume 3. FIAR-We read Clown of God and Grandfather's Journey, but we did not do any activities with them. We reviewed the poetry we have memorized but we did not start any new poems.
Phonics: Lamb 1 has reached a point in The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading where it is getting too difficult for him. I decided to take a break for a little while. We are focusing on other things in school and in a few weeks I plan to resume again by using alphabet magnets and just see what I can teach him by "playing" with words and letters. Lamb 1 can already read better (just from what we have done in TOPGtTR) than most of the 1st graders came to me when I was teaching in the classroom. I plan to try again with TOPGtTR in about a month.
Religion: We did the stories of Jesus Heals the 10 men with Leprosy, Jesus Feeds 5000, The Prodigal Son, Jesus is Anointed (and we did this twice because once was the Sunday School lesson they missed at Sunday School). We memorized Luke 19:10 and 1 John 4:19. We continue to review the commandments. We have not learned any new hymns recently.
Latin: The Lambs continue to do well with the vocabulary from Prima Latina.
Science: 2 out of the 4 goldfish that Lamb 1 received for his birthday have died. We have been reading a series about life cycles including frogs, kangaroos, and sunflowers and we have a few more to read. They did a science experiment and also planted seeds at ECFE. We began learning a song with the order of the planets (it includes Pluto).
History: We haven't done much history recently.
Music: We have read from The Story of the Orchestra every day and listened to the CD section that goes with it. The Lambs know far more about the orchestra instruments than I did before we studied this! I bought some flash cards and after we complete our study of the Orchestra then we are going to begin learning the music notes. I had printed off some flash cards but I was trying to decide if I should do them on cardstock or laminate them or what to do. It was a lot easier to spend $5 and get a set already made. I plan to teach them to read the music notes in the next year before they start piano lessons.
Art: We painted and did potato printing at ECFE. Lamb 1 made a picture with seeds glued to paper at ECFE. He really enjoyed this and I plan to do it with Lamb 1 and 2 again soon.
I am pleased with the progress the Lambs made and the school that we accomplished daily in the last few weeks. We will take a break from school the end of this week and the beginning of next week for Holy Week and for a visit from Ewe's parents and to celebrate Lamb 3's birthday. We will still have school the beginning of this week and resume after Easter. Lamb 1 and 2 will attend Spanish class once a week in April too.
Week 24: We had school every day besides Tuesday. On Tuesday our babysitter came and we went to ECFE. The ECFE theme was St. Patrick's Day. On Saturday we went to a Sports and Leisure show in the town 7 miles away. We accomplished a lot in school this week even though the Lambs were sick.
Week 25: We did not have school on Monday when we went to the dentist or Friday when Ewe went to the doctor. I took school books along, but we didn't feel like doing school in the car after all the sickness the week before. Lamb 1 went to ECFE without his brothers because they were ill. The ECFE theme was gardens/planting. The Lambs played outside a lot both weeks as we finally have some warmer weather. Our babysitter did not come this week because we were sick.
Math: Lamb 1 finished lesson 15 in MUS and began lesson 16. I finally watched the DVD for the last few lessons-I got behind. Lamb 1 has become very stubborn about math recently. I know he is capable of doing this math and I wonder if it is too easy for him and that is the problem. I'm learning to sit by him so he doesn't have to be alone but not say hardly anything while he works so that he can be independent. This is VERY difficult for the former classroom teacher in me. But when I do this, there is a lot less frustration during math time. I know some of my friends would say he's only 6 and I shouldn't do formal bookwork with him. But Lamb 1 likes the challenge of math and last fall he was ready for math bookwork. I am the one that needs to learn how best to work with Lamb 1.
Handwriting: Lamb 2 finished his prewriting activities. I have not printed off what I want to work with him next. He's still not ready for letters or numbers and needs more practice with prewriting activities. I may work on dot to dot with him next as I think this would be very helpful for him.
I continue to work on letters and numbers that are giving Lamb 1 problems (especially a and 8). After Holy Week I think we'll begin another round of working on one number or one letter individually each day to fine tune them.
Reading: We continue to read My Book House volume 3. FIAR-We read Clown of God and Grandfather's Journey, but we did not do any activities with them. We reviewed the poetry we have memorized but we did not start any new poems.
Phonics: Lamb 1 has reached a point in The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading where it is getting too difficult for him. I decided to take a break for a little while. We are focusing on other things in school and in a few weeks I plan to resume again by using alphabet magnets and just see what I can teach him by "playing" with words and letters. Lamb 1 can already read better (just from what we have done in TOPGtTR) than most of the 1st graders came to me when I was teaching in the classroom. I plan to try again with TOPGtTR in about a month.
Religion: We did the stories of Jesus Heals the 10 men with Leprosy, Jesus Feeds 5000, The Prodigal Son, Jesus is Anointed (and we did this twice because once was the Sunday School lesson they missed at Sunday School). We memorized Luke 19:10 and 1 John 4:19. We continue to review the commandments. We have not learned any new hymns recently.
Latin: The Lambs continue to do well with the vocabulary from Prima Latina.
Science: 2 out of the 4 goldfish that Lamb 1 received for his birthday have died. We have been reading a series about life cycles including frogs, kangaroos, and sunflowers and we have a few more to read. They did a science experiment and also planted seeds at ECFE. We began learning a song with the order of the planets (it includes Pluto).
History: We haven't done much history recently.
Music: We have read from The Story of the Orchestra every day and listened to the CD section that goes with it. The Lambs know far more about the orchestra instruments than I did before we studied this! I bought some flash cards and after we complete our study of the Orchestra then we are going to begin learning the music notes. I had printed off some flash cards but I was trying to decide if I should do them on cardstock or laminate them or what to do. It was a lot easier to spend $5 and get a set already made. I plan to teach them to read the music notes in the next year before they start piano lessons.
Art: We painted and did potato printing at ECFE. Lamb 1 made a picture with seeds glued to paper at ECFE. He really enjoyed this and I plan to do it with Lamb 1 and 2 again soon.
I am pleased with the progress the Lambs made and the school that we accomplished daily in the last few weeks. We will take a break from school the end of this week and the beginning of next week for Holy Week and for a visit from Ewe's parents and to celebrate Lamb 3's birthday. We will still have school the beginning of this week and resume after Easter. Lamb 1 and 2 will attend Spanish class once a week in April too.
Changes in Town
We really like to go to St. Cloud (3 hours) to go shopping. Because of schedule (and other places we needed to go) we had not been there since early last fall. We were surprised at these changes.
1. The Lambs called Granite City the Balloon Restaurant. They always ask to eat there if there is one in the town we go to. After we ate we asked for balloons. They said they had not had balloons available for several months. They can't give out balloons because of latex allergy. The Lambs were very disappointed.
2. St. Cloud has an Aldi now! We didn't go because we were pretty stocked up on groceries after recent trips to Costco. But we now have this option for the next time we go to St. Cloud. Out of all the towns we regularly go to, this is the first Aldi that I've seen. There may be Aldis in some of the other towns we go to, but they aren't on the main street where we are shopping at other stores.
3. Once Upon a Child had moved some items around in the store. I don't know if it is the economy or if they found things weren't selling, or what the reason, but there was very little that I was interested in buying. The only snow pants they had over size 3T were brand new. Lamb 1 needs new snow pants so he can pass down his snow pants to Lamb 2. Out of all the towns we go to, the Once Upon a Child was my favorite in St. Cloud-they didn't seem to have much competition for thrift stores. We'll have to see if this continues the next time we go to St. Cloud or if it was just a bad time of year to go shopping. I'm afraid the economy may be making this a permanent change.
1. The Lambs called Granite City the Balloon Restaurant. They always ask to eat there if there is one in the town we go to. After we ate we asked for balloons. They said they had not had balloons available for several months. They can't give out balloons because of latex allergy. The Lambs were very disappointed.
2. St. Cloud has an Aldi now! We didn't go because we were pretty stocked up on groceries after recent trips to Costco. But we now have this option for the next time we go to St. Cloud. Out of all the towns we regularly go to, this is the first Aldi that I've seen. There may be Aldis in some of the other towns we go to, but they aren't on the main street where we are shopping at other stores.
3. Once Upon a Child had moved some items around in the store. I don't know if it is the economy or if they found things weren't selling, or what the reason, but there was very little that I was interested in buying. The only snow pants they had over size 3T were brand new. Lamb 1 needs new snow pants so he can pass down his snow pants to Lamb 2. Out of all the towns we go to, the Once Upon a Child was my favorite in St. Cloud-they didn't seem to have much competition for thrift stores. We'll have to see if this continues the next time we go to St. Cloud or if it was just a bad time of year to go shopping. I'm afraid the economy may be making this a permanent change.
Friday, March 26, 2010
My doctor appointment
We drove 2 hours one way and I spent less than 30 minutes with the doctor. He explained the different lab tests they can do. Unfortunately since the tests are sent to Mayo, the tests could not be done on Friday. They have to be done early in the week, in the morning so there is time to send them to Mayo. He was trying to figure out how I could get the lab work done closer to home. The nurse explained how expensive these tests are and how important it was to get them done in the morning etc. I decided then that I would rather go back to their lab instead of risking the local lab messing it up. So I will make the 4 hour round trip on Monday by myself to get the lab work done.
Ram and I are also both going to take some antibiotics. There is the possibility that one of us has an infection. It's cheaper and easier to treat with a low dose antibiotic than to test both of us for all the infections. If I get pregnant again I am to take a baby aspirin daily too.
The doctor's attitude (although he wasn't this blunt) was that I've had the same number of pregnancies as miscarriages so assuming that my labs come back normal (and he assumes they will because I had 3 births), that Ram and I should just keep trying. When I first heard this, I thought this was a terrible "plan" for a pro-life family to have. But Ram doesn't see it that way. He sees it as there is only so much a doctor can do and so much we can afford. The doctor is doing what he can do now to run these lab tests. He is doing something. But there is also much about miscarriage that doctors don't know and can't do anything about. If the lab tests come back with a problem they can treat, they will do something about that. But if the lab tests come back normal, then the best we can do is keep trying.
We are getting a tax refund. I have no idea how much insurance will pay for these tests, so our tax refund may be spent on this. We also received more bills today-one for x-rays of my sprained foot last May and one for my recent ultrasounds for miscarriage. I think it will be a long time before these medical bills are finished.
I did not know where this doctor was located so we all went today. Lamb 3 threw up on the way to the doctor. He had only had milk before he threw up. The Lambs and Ram stayed in the car while I went into the doctor. Then we ate lunch and got some pedialyte at Walmart (which was a pain because they were renovating the Walmart and nothing was in the right place) and came home. Lamb 3 is much better and he took a long nap this afternoon. We'll try to encourage him to drink the pedialyte and liquids. I'm waiting for my turn to get the flu now...
I was very hopeful about this doctor appointment. It was clear to me that I am still to do baby steps. Step 1: Get these labs done on Monday. Step 2: Wait several weeks for the labs to come back and for the doctor to write me a letter about the results. Step 3: Try not to worry about step 1 and 2 while I'm waiting. Step 4: I can't do step 4 until step 1 and 2 are done, so don't worry about it yet.
Ram and I are also both going to take some antibiotics. There is the possibility that one of us has an infection. It's cheaper and easier to treat with a low dose antibiotic than to test both of us for all the infections. If I get pregnant again I am to take a baby aspirin daily too.
The doctor's attitude (although he wasn't this blunt) was that I've had the same number of pregnancies as miscarriages so assuming that my labs come back normal (and he assumes they will because I had 3 births), that Ram and I should just keep trying. When I first heard this, I thought this was a terrible "plan" for a pro-life family to have. But Ram doesn't see it that way. He sees it as there is only so much a doctor can do and so much we can afford. The doctor is doing what he can do now to run these lab tests. He is doing something. But there is also much about miscarriage that doctors don't know and can't do anything about. If the lab tests come back with a problem they can treat, they will do something about that. But if the lab tests come back normal, then the best we can do is keep trying.
We are getting a tax refund. I have no idea how much insurance will pay for these tests, so our tax refund may be spent on this. We also received more bills today-one for x-rays of my sprained foot last May and one for my recent ultrasounds for miscarriage. I think it will be a long time before these medical bills are finished.
I did not know where this doctor was located so we all went today. Lamb 3 threw up on the way to the doctor. He had only had milk before he threw up. The Lambs and Ram stayed in the car while I went into the doctor. Then we ate lunch and got some pedialyte at Walmart (which was a pain because they were renovating the Walmart and nothing was in the right place) and came home. Lamb 3 is much better and he took a long nap this afternoon. We'll try to encourage him to drink the pedialyte and liquids. I'm waiting for my turn to get the flu now...
I was very hopeful about this doctor appointment. It was clear to me that I am still to do baby steps. Step 1: Get these labs done on Monday. Step 2: Wait several weeks for the labs to come back and for the doctor to write me a letter about the results. Step 3: Try not to worry about step 1 and 2 while I'm waiting. Step 4: I can't do step 4 until step 1 and 2 are done, so don't worry about it yet.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Prayer Requests
1. Ram got the flu last night-the bad kind of flu out both ends at the same time-plus he had the chills and couldn't stand being out of bed while he was at the toilet. Please pray for him to get better, for the Lambs to not get this again, and for me to not get it. Lamb 2 had the flu a week ago Wednesday so it has been in our family over a week.
2. Tomorrow I have my appointment with the OB/GYN. When I made the appointment it seemed like a long time away. I made the appointment for tomorrow because we are so busy during Lent, I wanted it to be after my sister visited, but before my parents visited, etc. Lent and March flew by and the appointment is tomorrow! Please pray that I don't get the flu before/during my appointment tomorrow. Please pray that I have wisdom to answer the doctor's questions. Please pray that the doctor has wisdom for what is causing my miscarriages.
I typed up 3 pages of everything I could think of that happened with my pregnancies and miscarriages. I am hoping that something in my writing is helpful for the doctor to make a connection for what may be wrong. I have a little drive to get to this specialist so please pray that my appointment is productive.
In other news, we have the mud problem again like last fall. The town can't do anything until it dries enough to put down more gravel and make the roads again. I didn't realize it was as bad as it was and we walked to church last night. The Lambs wore boots and I wore some shoes that were already muddy. It was sticky mud but we did ok getting there. Then on the way home in the dark, my shoe got stuck in the mud and I had to walk across the rest of the way barefoot. Lamb 2 got completely stuck in the mud. Lamb 1 went back to get my shoe and got stuck. I will be doing lots of laundry today-both from the mud on our church clothes last night and I'm still not caught up with the Lambs laundry from the flu. Lamb 1 said we needed to clean our shoes today and was trying to think of ways to get across the mud without getting stuck. I declared that we are driving to church next time. That will be a pain to load everyone in the car and because of mud we will have to drive 4 blocks to go to the church next door, but it will be better than dealing with all this mud again!
2. Tomorrow I have my appointment with the OB/GYN. When I made the appointment it seemed like a long time away. I made the appointment for tomorrow because we are so busy during Lent, I wanted it to be after my sister visited, but before my parents visited, etc. Lent and March flew by and the appointment is tomorrow! Please pray that I don't get the flu before/during my appointment tomorrow. Please pray that I have wisdom to answer the doctor's questions. Please pray that the doctor has wisdom for what is causing my miscarriages.
I typed up 3 pages of everything I could think of that happened with my pregnancies and miscarriages. I am hoping that something in my writing is helpful for the doctor to make a connection for what may be wrong. I have a little drive to get to this specialist so please pray that my appointment is productive.
In other news, we have the mud problem again like last fall. The town can't do anything until it dries enough to put down more gravel and make the roads again. I didn't realize it was as bad as it was and we walked to church last night. The Lambs wore boots and I wore some shoes that were already muddy. It was sticky mud but we did ok getting there. Then on the way home in the dark, my shoe got stuck in the mud and I had to walk across the rest of the way barefoot. Lamb 2 got completely stuck in the mud. Lamb 1 went back to get my shoe and got stuck. I will be doing lots of laundry today-both from the mud on our church clothes last night and I'm still not caught up with the Lambs laundry from the flu. Lamb 1 said we needed to clean our shoes today and was trying to think of ways to get across the mud without getting stuck. I declared that we are driving to church next time. That will be a pain to load everyone in the car and because of mud we will have to drive 4 blocks to go to the church next door, but it will be better than dealing with all this mud again!
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
That is my...
Representative Collin Peterson was the only congressman from the state of MN that voted no for health care reform on Sunday night. I sent him an e-mail thanking him for thoroughly reading about the issue and voting for what made sense to him for the people of the 7th congressional district. I plan to send him a written letter too. The entire state of MN is primarily DFL (Democrat Farmer Labor) so I'm sure he is receiving lots of negative comments for his vote. I will remember his vote at election time.
Monday, March 22, 2010
I feel like a terrible mother
Lamb 1 had to get 4 caps on his teeth and 2 silver crowns when he was 3 years old. This was done at a surgery center and he was put under to do this dental work. We had helped him brush his teeth, but I had no idea that you were supposed to take your children to the dentist before they were 3 years old. We were sent home after his surgery with areas of his mouth to brush extra careful. He did well at all his checkups since then.
Lamb 1 and 2 had several appointments scheduled at the dentist in January, February, and March. We kept having to change the appointments because Ram had a funeral at church, then we had a miscarriage, then he went to his grandfather's funeral, etc. We finally had an appointment today.
The pediatric dentist we see is 3 hours away so it is an all day deal including shopping. Lamb 1 threw up twice on Saturday night and Lamb 2 threw up once Sunday morning. I didn't know if they could handle an all day trip nor if they would be healthy enough. We decided to load the car and the boys and start and if someone felt sick on the way there it would be our clue to come home and call the dentist and reschedule. We really didn't want to reschedule because of all the times we had rescheduled before.
We made it and although Lamb 1 was tired and didn't want to get out of bed, once we got going everyone was fine and healthy all day long. Lamb 1 was a little more grouchy and impatient than normal, but it was a long day and he had just had the flu.
Lamb 2 did great at the dentist. He has tons of room between his teeth and at this point it is very unlikely that he'll get a cavity because he has so much room there that it is more difficult for food to get stuck there.
Lamb 1 also did great at the dentist...until last thing at the appointment the dentist looked at his x-rays taken today. He saw 2 almost cavities that we can watch diligently and 2 cavities that need to be taken care of now. I just wanted to cry because we do brush his teeth well and I thought that after his first dental work we had this problem solved. Lamb 1 almost always chooses water to drink at meals and other times too. The other Lambs almost always choose milk or juice. None of the Lambs ever have sticky foods because Lamb 1 has caps on his teeth. It just doesn't seem fair that a child that brushes well, almost always drinks water, and never has a lollipop (well, he had a couple of lollipops when he was 2 years old) has to have more dental work.
The good news was that Lamb 1 cooperates with the dentist and follows directions so this dental work can be done in the office, we won't have to go back to the surgery center. I was horrified at the thought that some children would have to go to the surgery center for this kind of dental work. The other good news is we still have money in our health care account from the church to pay for what the dental insurance will not pay for. The other good news is this is on his baby teeth so hopefully we can brush and floss better and take care of this before his adult teeth.
I was in shock at the office to receive the news that out of Lamb 1's 20 teeth-4 have caps, 2 have crowns, 2 need crowns, and 2 almost need crowns-so that equals half of his teeth. When I questioned what we could do better, they answered brush better and floss better. I can't see us doing any better on the brushing than we are doing, so that leaves trying to floss better. I was in too much shock to think to ask the dentist what we should tell Lamb 1 about this-how much do we tell him to prepare him for going back to the dentist for dental work in a few weeks? I'll have to call the office and ask that question. I don't know why he needs all this dental work myself and I know that question is coming from Lamb 1!
I remember when I was pregnant with Lamb 1 and I was at the dentist in the waiting room, there was a mother waiting while her two children had their dental cleanings. Her two girls were just a little older than Lamb 1 is now. The hygienist came out and gave the mom the news that both girls had cavities that needed to be taken care of. I was shocked to hear her laugh about it and respond to the hygienist that she thought they should eat a little less candy. I thought it was terrible that children the age of her girls would need any cavities filled. Ram has never had a cavity and I only had 2 right when my adult teeth came in. Now 6 years later, my oldest son has even worse teeth than those girls!
We scheduled an appointment in a few weeks for him. I did not do well the first time he had dental work, but it was more serious at the surgery center. I'm hoping that I do better this second time in the office. I also hope that he really does cooperate with the dentist and we can get this taken care of in the office and not have to make this a bigger deal.
We also scheduled Lamb 3 to have his first dental checkup in 6 months. I really hope that he follows Lamb 2 instead of Lamb 1 with his teeth!
Lamb 1 and 2 had several appointments scheduled at the dentist in January, February, and March. We kept having to change the appointments because Ram had a funeral at church, then we had a miscarriage, then he went to his grandfather's funeral, etc. We finally had an appointment today.
The pediatric dentist we see is 3 hours away so it is an all day deal including shopping. Lamb 1 threw up twice on Saturday night and Lamb 2 threw up once Sunday morning. I didn't know if they could handle an all day trip nor if they would be healthy enough. We decided to load the car and the boys and start and if someone felt sick on the way there it would be our clue to come home and call the dentist and reschedule. We really didn't want to reschedule because of all the times we had rescheduled before.
We made it and although Lamb 1 was tired and didn't want to get out of bed, once we got going everyone was fine and healthy all day long. Lamb 1 was a little more grouchy and impatient than normal, but it was a long day and he had just had the flu.
Lamb 2 did great at the dentist. He has tons of room between his teeth and at this point it is very unlikely that he'll get a cavity because he has so much room there that it is more difficult for food to get stuck there.
Lamb 1 also did great at the dentist...until last thing at the appointment the dentist looked at his x-rays taken today. He saw 2 almost cavities that we can watch diligently and 2 cavities that need to be taken care of now. I just wanted to cry because we do brush his teeth well and I thought that after his first dental work we had this problem solved. Lamb 1 almost always chooses water to drink at meals and other times too. The other Lambs almost always choose milk or juice. None of the Lambs ever have sticky foods because Lamb 1 has caps on his teeth. It just doesn't seem fair that a child that brushes well, almost always drinks water, and never has a lollipop (well, he had a couple of lollipops when he was 2 years old) has to have more dental work.
The good news was that Lamb 1 cooperates with the dentist and follows directions so this dental work can be done in the office, we won't have to go back to the surgery center. I was horrified at the thought that some children would have to go to the surgery center for this kind of dental work. The other good news is we still have money in our health care account from the church to pay for what the dental insurance will not pay for. The other good news is this is on his baby teeth so hopefully we can brush and floss better and take care of this before his adult teeth.
I was in shock at the office to receive the news that out of Lamb 1's 20 teeth-4 have caps, 2 have crowns, 2 need crowns, and 2 almost need crowns-so that equals half of his teeth. When I questioned what we could do better, they answered brush better and floss better. I can't see us doing any better on the brushing than we are doing, so that leaves trying to floss better. I was in too much shock to think to ask the dentist what we should tell Lamb 1 about this-how much do we tell him to prepare him for going back to the dentist for dental work in a few weeks? I'll have to call the office and ask that question. I don't know why he needs all this dental work myself and I know that question is coming from Lamb 1!
I remember when I was pregnant with Lamb 1 and I was at the dentist in the waiting room, there was a mother waiting while her two children had their dental cleanings. Her two girls were just a little older than Lamb 1 is now. The hygienist came out and gave the mom the news that both girls had cavities that needed to be taken care of. I was shocked to hear her laugh about it and respond to the hygienist that she thought they should eat a little less candy. I thought it was terrible that children the age of her girls would need any cavities filled. Ram has never had a cavity and I only had 2 right when my adult teeth came in. Now 6 years later, my oldest son has even worse teeth than those girls!
We scheduled an appointment in a few weeks for him. I did not do well the first time he had dental work, but it was more serious at the surgery center. I'm hoping that I do better this second time in the office. I also hope that he really does cooperate with the dentist and we can get this taken care of in the office and not have to make this a bigger deal.
We also scheduled Lamb 3 to have his first dental checkup in 6 months. I really hope that he follows Lamb 2 instead of Lamb 1 with his teeth!
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Weekly school report...
will be posted later this week. I need to get a full night of sleep without any Lambs throwing up from the stomach flu first. We actually did quite a bit of school last week before we got sick.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
My Flute
I started playing the flute when I was in 4th grade. I took private lessons for many years in addition to band. I was never very good, but I have great memories from high school band and college Wind Ensemble. After college I was asked to play at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Fort Wayne once along with a string instrument and another time I was asked to play at my church, Zion Lutheran in Fort Wayne. At Redeemer I played with a high school student and felt like I was way more rusty than I should have been a couple of years after college. At Zion, I played with another flautist and didn't spend the time practicing like I should have and really regretted it on the morning we were to play in church. Sometimes I played my flute at home since I don't play the piano and the easiest way for me to get a tune is with my flute (figuring out a hymn, etc.).
A few years ago, we had some extra money and I decided one of the things I wanted to do was to get my flute cleaned and repadded. It was in awful shape after college pep band especially. A friend visited and took my flute back to Fort Wayne to a music shop that I trusted. My parents picked up the flute when it was done and brought it to me. That was about 4 years ago. I put the flute in the closet and didn't touch it since then.
We have been studying music instruments and we listened the the flute today in homeschool. The Lambs begged me to get out my flute. When I got it out, they begged me to play a song. I tried "I don't know any songs, I need some music" but that didn't work. So they brought a hymnal and I played I am Jesus Little Lamb.
I hadn't even opened the flute after my parents brought it back to me. It was beautiful when it was all cleaned up and new pads! It doesn't look brand new like when I got it in high school, but it was beautiful. I regretted not opening it up earlier because I think I would have been motivated to play it, just because it is so beautiful!
I have a new goal to practice enough to play I am Jesus Little Lamb with the Lambs and the Sunday School children in church on Good Shepherd Sunday. I thought Good Shepherd Sunday was in May, but Ram told me it is on April 25.
I have gotten out of playing in church (even our small churches) because I have either been pregnant or have little ones. I think the Lambs are old enough now to let me play. It's good that the Lambs enjoyed my playing this morning because I'm going to need to practice a lot before Good Shepherd Sunday!
A few years ago, we had some extra money and I decided one of the things I wanted to do was to get my flute cleaned and repadded. It was in awful shape after college pep band especially. A friend visited and took my flute back to Fort Wayne to a music shop that I trusted. My parents picked up the flute when it was done and brought it to me. That was about 4 years ago. I put the flute in the closet and didn't touch it since then.
We have been studying music instruments and we listened the the flute today in homeschool. The Lambs begged me to get out my flute. When I got it out, they begged me to play a song. I tried "I don't know any songs, I need some music" but that didn't work. So they brought a hymnal and I played I am Jesus Little Lamb.
I hadn't even opened the flute after my parents brought it back to me. It was beautiful when it was all cleaned up and new pads! It doesn't look brand new like when I got it in high school, but it was beautiful. I regretted not opening it up earlier because I think I would have been motivated to play it, just because it is so beautiful!
I have a new goal to practice enough to play I am Jesus Little Lamb with the Lambs and the Sunday School children in church on Good Shepherd Sunday. I thought Good Shepherd Sunday was in May, but Ram told me it is on April 25.
I have gotten out of playing in church (even our small churches) because I have either been pregnant or have little ones. I think the Lambs are old enough now to let me play. It's good that the Lambs enjoyed my playing this morning because I'm going to need to practice a lot before Good Shepherd Sunday!
Friday, March 19, 2010
Blogging
While I haven't gone as long blogging as some of my other friends (one went 7 months without blogging), I haven't blogged as much as I did before. I try to post once a day. This is my 11th post on the 19th day of March. Not terrible, but not as often as I would like.
I didn't blog about the first of Lamb 1's new goldfish dying or about Lamb 2 throwing up all over everything in the middle of the night a few nights ago or about some of the things I've discovered as I cleaned out my memorabilia to scrapbook or many other topics that I could have blogged about recently. I haven't blogged very many photos from our new camera.
A few weeks ago I had several comments about my blog (e-mail and verbal and blog comments). They were all comments that I'm...very thorough on my blog. And how do I ever find time to blog so much?
Ram started his blog last August and he started out posting a few times a week. Now he is just posting his sermons and not much more. He said he simply lost interest in blogging. He would rather read a book than to write a blog post. Blogging wasn't as interesting to him as he thought it would be. Another blog that Ram read sometimes just posted that he will no longer be blogging as he is interested in other things and doesn't want to devote time to blogging right now. He still plans to post his sermons at another site. Ram would probably start doing the same thing if he had a church website to post his sermons at. So for now he continues to post his sermons on his blog and once and awhile something will catch his interest enough to blog about it.
I enjoy blogging and I would like to have enough time to "blog ahead" a few days so when we get busy I don't get behind on blogging. But right now I don't have time for that. Part of my problem is that I'm interested/involved in so many areas of my life right now-Lambs, homeschooling, homekeeping, scrapbooking, etc.-and I will be involved in all these areas for many years. My blog is not just primarily one topic like homeschooling or sewing or photography with occasional posts about something besides the primary topic. Because of this, I think blogging comes easy to me because I have several different areas to blog about. But it also makes it difficult to narrow down which topic to blog about and focus on that.
I often get my ideas for blogging from what my friends post. It seems like recently my friends have been as busy as I have been and not posting as often. Add in that our miscarriages have been on my mind a lot and I don't want to be depressing with that kind of blog posts. I have been reading my friends blogs, but just haven't had time to leave comments.
I'm also trying to clean out things here-the other day I worked on the bathroom cupboard for a little while-not done there yet, and I've been working on my scrapbook supplies for several days. If I spend time doing that, then I don't have time to blog. And I still need to keep up with homeschooling, dishes, and laundry.
I think this post has become a "thorough ramble". I guess I'll continue to post when I have time AND I'm inspired with a blog post idea. I'm still here even if I don't post as often as before. If I read your blog regularly (on my blog list on my sidebar), even if I don't have time to comment, I'm still thinking and praying for you.
I didn't blog about the first of Lamb 1's new goldfish dying or about Lamb 2 throwing up all over everything in the middle of the night a few nights ago or about some of the things I've discovered as I cleaned out my memorabilia to scrapbook or many other topics that I could have blogged about recently. I haven't blogged very many photos from our new camera.
A few weeks ago I had several comments about my blog (e-mail and verbal and blog comments). They were all comments that I'm...very thorough on my blog. And how do I ever find time to blog so much?
Ram started his blog last August and he started out posting a few times a week. Now he is just posting his sermons and not much more. He said he simply lost interest in blogging. He would rather read a book than to write a blog post. Blogging wasn't as interesting to him as he thought it would be. Another blog that Ram read sometimes just posted that he will no longer be blogging as he is interested in other things and doesn't want to devote time to blogging right now. He still plans to post his sermons at another site. Ram would probably start doing the same thing if he had a church website to post his sermons at. So for now he continues to post his sermons on his blog and once and awhile something will catch his interest enough to blog about it.
I enjoy blogging and I would like to have enough time to "blog ahead" a few days so when we get busy I don't get behind on blogging. But right now I don't have time for that. Part of my problem is that I'm interested/involved in so many areas of my life right now-Lambs, homeschooling, homekeeping, scrapbooking, etc.-and I will be involved in all these areas for many years. My blog is not just primarily one topic like homeschooling or sewing or photography with occasional posts about something besides the primary topic. Because of this, I think blogging comes easy to me because I have several different areas to blog about. But it also makes it difficult to narrow down which topic to blog about and focus on that.
I often get my ideas for blogging from what my friends post. It seems like recently my friends have been as busy as I have been and not posting as often. Add in that our miscarriages have been on my mind a lot and I don't want to be depressing with that kind of blog posts. I have been reading my friends blogs, but just haven't had time to leave comments.
I'm also trying to clean out things here-the other day I worked on the bathroom cupboard for a little while-not done there yet, and I've been working on my scrapbook supplies for several days. If I spend time doing that, then I don't have time to blog. And I still need to keep up with homeschooling, dishes, and laundry.
I think this post has become a "thorough ramble". I guess I'll continue to post when I have time AND I'm inspired with a blog post idea. I'm still here even if I don't post as often as before. If I read your blog regularly (on my blog list on my sidebar), even if I don't have time to comment, I'm still thinking and praying for you.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Latin
We listen to the vocabulary CD that came with Prima Latina, but we don't do the bookwork. I feel a little guilty since I still have my vocabulary lists from when I was teaching at Zion and maybe I should be doing more Latin with my boys. But so far, it has been enough for our 6 and 3 1/2 year old to just listen to the vocabulary. Hopefully we will add more Latin including bookwork next year.
Last night on the way to church we listened to the Latin CD. We were doing a review of a few lessons and then started a new lesson. The first lesson we reviewed had unda (wave) as a vocabulary word. You can imagine my surprise when Lamb 3 started waving his hand frantically to try to get our attention. It wasn't that kind of wave, but at least we know Lamb 3 is paying attention to Latin when we do it with the other Lambs!
Lamb 1 and 2 have always done more than just repeat the Latin and English words on the CD. While the CD is playing, they quickly repeat the words and then they make up a sentence with the Latin word. For example they would say "cena=dinner, we are going to church to eat cena" "patria=country, our church is in the patria". Both Lamb 1 and 2 do this.
They were thrilled to learn the numbers in Latin in their vocabulary last night. The lesson we were on just did 1-5 so of course we had to listen to a little of the next lesson to learn 6 since Lamb 1 just turned 6. Today when we listened to the Sing the Faith CD, they said the Latin numers of the commandments. I don't remember learning numbers in Latin when I was teaching so I'm learning this along with the Lambs.
In April, Lamb 1 and 2 will attend Spanish class once a week. It will be interesting to hear them during Spanish class-I'm sure they will try to tell the teacher the Latin words are similar to the Spanish words. The teacher teaches the entire class without ever speaking one word of English. It will be interesting how she handles the Lambs, especially if they try their vocabulary pattern that they do with Latin during Spanish class.
Last night on the way to church we listened to the Latin CD. We were doing a review of a few lessons and then started a new lesson. The first lesson we reviewed had unda (wave) as a vocabulary word. You can imagine my surprise when Lamb 3 started waving his hand frantically to try to get our attention. It wasn't that kind of wave, but at least we know Lamb 3 is paying attention to Latin when we do it with the other Lambs!
Lamb 1 and 2 have always done more than just repeat the Latin and English words on the CD. While the CD is playing, they quickly repeat the words and then they make up a sentence with the Latin word. For example they would say "cena=dinner, we are going to church to eat cena" "patria=country, our church is in the patria". Both Lamb 1 and 2 do this.
They were thrilled to learn the numbers in Latin in their vocabulary last night. The lesson we were on just did 1-5 so of course we had to listen to a little of the next lesson to learn 6 since Lamb 1 just turned 6. Today when we listened to the Sing the Faith CD, they said the Latin numers of the commandments. I don't remember learning numbers in Latin when I was teaching so I'm learning this along with the Lambs.
In April, Lamb 1 and 2 will attend Spanish class once a week. It will be interesting to hear them during Spanish class-I'm sure they will try to tell the teacher the Latin words are similar to the Spanish words. The teacher teaches the entire class without ever speaking one word of English. It will be interesting how she handles the Lambs, especially if they try their vocabulary pattern that they do with Latin during Spanish class.
Monday, March 15, 2010
New Things
Angie posted here about some new things she is trying. I thought it was a great idea for a blog post. Here's a list of some things we have tried/started doing in the last 6 months. When I list these, it's amazing to me how many of these I took advice of Loopers and/or blogs I read. Most are to save money or be green or eat healthier. If you would have told me just 5 years ago that I would be doing almost anything on this list, I would have thought you were crazy!
*Bought BumGenius diapers for Lamb 3 and began using them at night time for him (I never thought I would cloth diaper at night time too) (I don't want Pampers to get my money!)
*Bought my first bra online that was not for nursing (I never thought I could get the size correct without trying it on)
*Bought my first dress online that was not for nursing
*Drink raw milk (Ram, Ewe, Lamb 2)
*Took RPW's advice and bought my first expensive coconut oil (I'm waiting for it to ship)
*Bought and began using cloth pads after this experience (I don't want Always to get my money each month!)
*Made homemade vanilla (thanks Susan for the "recipe")
*Make and drink kombucha
*Buy eggs from the farm
*Tried curly girl routine (still working on it-my hair is wavy but not curly-this will take me awhile to learn what works for MY hair)
*Lambs all sleep in the same room together and go to bed at the same time and get up at the same time (which makes more time for Ram and Ewe to have together time and alone time)
*Ram and I do neti pot
*We all take vitamin D supplements now
*Ram and Ewe take cod liver oil (Lambs have all started taking it at 18 months)
*Just started to shop and avoid high fructose corn syrup (we have a fully stocked pantry so as we use up items we will buy ones without HFCS or if HFCS can't be avoided, we won't buy it any more-we aren't avoiding all sugar, just starting with HFCS)
*Bought real maple syrup
*Bought dryer balls to put in the clothes dryer to speed the drying time (since it will be months before I can put stuff on the clothesline outside again!)
*Began homeschooling Lamb 1 more formally than preschool homeschool
*Make own baby wipes
*Use vinegar for cleaning instead of Lysol
*Bought BumGenius diapers for Lamb 3 and began using them at night time for him (I never thought I would cloth diaper at night time too) (I don't want Pampers to get my money!)
*Bought my first bra online that was not for nursing (I never thought I could get the size correct without trying it on)
*Bought my first dress online that was not for nursing
*Drink raw milk (Ram, Ewe, Lamb 2)
*Took RPW's advice and bought my first expensive coconut oil (I'm waiting for it to ship)
*Bought and began using cloth pads after this experience (I don't want Always to get my money each month!)
*Made homemade vanilla (thanks Susan for the "recipe")
*Make and drink kombucha
*Buy eggs from the farm
*Tried curly girl routine (still working on it-my hair is wavy but not curly-this will take me awhile to learn what works for MY hair)
*Lambs all sleep in the same room together and go to bed at the same time and get up at the same time (which makes more time for Ram and Ewe to have together time and alone time)
*Ram and I do neti pot
*We all take vitamin D supplements now
*Ram and Ewe take cod liver oil (Lambs have all started taking it at 18 months)
*Just started to shop and avoid high fructose corn syrup (we have a fully stocked pantry so as we use up items we will buy ones without HFCS or if HFCS can't be avoided, we won't buy it any more-we aren't avoiding all sugar, just starting with HFCS)
*Bought real maple syrup
*Bought dryer balls to put in the clothes dryer to speed the drying time (since it will be months before I can put stuff on the clothesline outside again!)
*Began homeschooling Lamb 1 more formally than preschool homeschool
*Make own baby wipes
*Use vinegar for cleaning instead of Lysol
Sunday, March 14, 2010
22nd and 23rd Week of School Report
I didn't get to a weekly report so this is 2 weeks report. I'll probably forget something since this was two weeks ago.
Week 22: We only had school on Monday and Saturday. Tuesday we went to get Aunt Hannah from the airport 4 hours away. Tuesday was a very long day and no one felt like reading or doing school in the car. Wednesday-Mama and Aunt Hannah went to high tea and we had church in the evening. Thursday Mama had a cold and didn't feel like teaching. Friday was Lamb 1's birthday and Lamb 1 also went to the eye doctor.
Week 23: We had school on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday. On Monday Lamb 2 went to the eye doctor. On Tuesday we took Aunt Hannah back to the airport. On Wednesday we did our school in the car on the way to church in the eventing. On Friday, Mama had a headache in the morning (which improved after I did Neti pot!) and our babysitter came in the afternoon.
Math: Finished lesson 14 in MUS.
Reading: We read volume 3 of My Book House. We are still memorizing Bed in Summer by R. L. Stevenson. We read Tigers and Sails and ABC Tales (Virginia Museum of Fine Arts) recommended by Veritas Press (also art appreciation). We read The Big Green Pocketbook (BFIAR) but did not do any activities with it.
Phonics: Lamb 1 continues to do well in Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading.
Religion: Memorized Psalm 107:1 for Sunday School. Continued to review the commandments with Sing the Faith CD.
Music: Began reading The Story of the Orchestra by Robert Levine. It will take us awhile to complete this but the Lambs are learning a lot just reading a couple of pages a day and listening to the CD section with it. Lamb 1 received his cabaca for his birthday so we've had lots of playing music with our instruments.
Latin: Continued to listen to the CD with Prima Latina.
Art: Painted with babysitter twice.
We didn't get to much science or history to talk about here.
Handwriting: Lamb 2 continues on his worksheets from http://www.donnayoung.org/ and he does a little better every day. I have been working with Lamb 1 on some of his letters and numbers that I've noticed he doesn't write correctly in his writing of thank you notes and school (especially "a" and "8").
We don't have very much on the calendar this week so I'm hoping that everyone stays healthy so we can put a good week of school in this week before we get closer to Holy Week and we will take another school break. The snow is melting and it is wet and very muddy outside so I don't really want the Lambs outside too much right now. Our church had to postpone their annual ham dinner because it was so muddy there was no place to park or walk. Aunt Hannah helped us clean up and organize our basement so it is better to play down there. Hopefully our sump pump and dehumidifier do their job down there!
Week 22: We only had school on Monday and Saturday. Tuesday we went to get Aunt Hannah from the airport 4 hours away. Tuesday was a very long day and no one felt like reading or doing school in the car. Wednesday-Mama and Aunt Hannah went to high tea and we had church in the evening. Thursday Mama had a cold and didn't feel like teaching. Friday was Lamb 1's birthday and Lamb 1 also went to the eye doctor.
Week 23: We had school on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday. On Monday Lamb 2 went to the eye doctor. On Tuesday we took Aunt Hannah back to the airport. On Wednesday we did our school in the car on the way to church in the eventing. On Friday, Mama had a headache in the morning (which improved after I did Neti pot!) and our babysitter came in the afternoon.
Math: Finished lesson 14 in MUS.
Reading: We read volume 3 of My Book House. We are still memorizing Bed in Summer by R. L. Stevenson. We read Tigers and Sails and ABC Tales (Virginia Museum of Fine Arts) recommended by Veritas Press (also art appreciation). We read The Big Green Pocketbook (BFIAR) but did not do any activities with it.
Phonics: Lamb 1 continues to do well in Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading.
Religion: Memorized Psalm 107:1 for Sunday School. Continued to review the commandments with Sing the Faith CD.
Music: Began reading The Story of the Orchestra by Robert Levine. It will take us awhile to complete this but the Lambs are learning a lot just reading a couple of pages a day and listening to the CD section with it. Lamb 1 received his cabaca for his birthday so we've had lots of playing music with our instruments.
Latin: Continued to listen to the CD with Prima Latina.
Art: Painted with babysitter twice.
We didn't get to much science or history to talk about here.
Handwriting: Lamb 2 continues on his worksheets from http://www.donnayoung.org/ and he does a little better every day. I have been working with Lamb 1 on some of his letters and numbers that I've noticed he doesn't write correctly in his writing of thank you notes and school (especially "a" and "8").
We don't have very much on the calendar this week so I'm hoping that everyone stays healthy so we can put a good week of school in this week before we get closer to Holy Week and we will take another school break. The snow is melting and it is wet and very muddy outside so I don't really want the Lambs outside too much right now. Our church had to postpone their annual ham dinner because it was so muddy there was no place to park or walk. Aunt Hannah helped us clean up and organize our basement so it is better to play down there. Hopefully our sump pump and dehumidifier do their job down there!
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Scrapbook supplies
Our babysitter came yesterday and I decided to use the time to try to get my scrapbook stuff organized. I don't have very much time to scrapbook and I end up wasting a lot of time looking for supplies instead of scrapbooking. It was more out of control than I thought so yesterday was just the beginning of my organization. I'll have to work on it a little each night after the boys go to bed and when my babysitter comes back on Tuesday. Hopefully I'll finish before my parents come at Easter so they have a guest bed to sleep on!
I've already filled a trash can of trash and 2 grocery bags to give away. Ram's mom is very generous with gifts of scrapbooking stuff for me, but I can't possibly use all this in my lifetime. Plus my grandma taught me to be a pack rat and in the case of scrapbooking, I think this paper cost money, if I save this scrap it might be useful for another page. But I have entirely too much and that scrap will never be used if I can't find it. I also think about if we move, I only want to move the important stuff.
I also can't throw anything from the boys away and how much stuff to scrapbook has multiplied in the last 6 years. I need to go through all of it because they are boys and they won't care about 3/4 of this stuff I'm saving to scrapbook nor do I have time to scrapbook all of it. If I have time, I'm good about cropping and choosing photos to scrapbook. But I have a hard time deciding what to do with cards and other memorabilia.
Plus I have tons of picture frames and many of them are breakable so I haven't put them out because I don't want the Lambs to break them. I'm also trying to go through the picture frames and choose what I really want to keep (even if it is to use later) and put photos in them and put them up. A few weeks ago I needed a frame for the Lambs most recent photo, and I couldn't find one single 5x7 frame. When I was cleaning out, I had tons of frames. No wonder why Goodwill always has lots of picture frames! Lamb 3 is almost 2 and I still haven't framed his baptism photo and put it up.
I'm really trying to get my scrapbooking stickers organized too. Ram's mom gave me a cardboard box with drawers for organization. I think it is meant for either paper or photos and memorabilia. I'm going to use it for stickers. That should tell you how many stickers I have. I need to get them organized to see what I have so I can go through them and give some away-I'll never use this many stickers.
When I'm finally done organizing I'm going to reward myself with an afternoon or evening of scrapbooking even if I have to do it at home because my schedule has not worked to go scrapbook out of the home recently.
I've already filled a trash can of trash and 2 grocery bags to give away. Ram's mom is very generous with gifts of scrapbooking stuff for me, but I can't possibly use all this in my lifetime. Plus my grandma taught me to be a pack rat and in the case of scrapbooking, I think this paper cost money, if I save this scrap it might be useful for another page. But I have entirely too much and that scrap will never be used if I can't find it. I also think about if we move, I only want to move the important stuff.
I also can't throw anything from the boys away and how much stuff to scrapbook has multiplied in the last 6 years. I need to go through all of it because they are boys and they won't care about 3/4 of this stuff I'm saving to scrapbook nor do I have time to scrapbook all of it. If I have time, I'm good about cropping and choosing photos to scrapbook. But I have a hard time deciding what to do with cards and other memorabilia.
Plus I have tons of picture frames and many of them are breakable so I haven't put them out because I don't want the Lambs to break them. I'm also trying to go through the picture frames and choose what I really want to keep (even if it is to use later) and put photos in them and put them up. A few weeks ago I needed a frame for the Lambs most recent photo, and I couldn't find one single 5x7 frame. When I was cleaning out, I had tons of frames. No wonder why Goodwill always has lots of picture frames! Lamb 3 is almost 2 and I still haven't framed his baptism photo and put it up.
I'm really trying to get my scrapbooking stickers organized too. Ram's mom gave me a cardboard box with drawers for organization. I think it is meant for either paper or photos and memorabilia. I'm going to use it for stickers. That should tell you how many stickers I have. I need to get them organized to see what I have so I can go through them and give some away-I'll never use this many stickers.
When I'm finally done organizing I'm going to reward myself with an afternoon or evening of scrapbooking even if I have to do it at home because my schedule has not worked to go scrapbook out of the home recently.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Two Sisters Tea
We went to pick up my sister from the airport a week ago Tuesday. We had a long day shopping after we picked her up (Costco and groceries etc.). The next day I had our babysitter come and we went to the town 15 miles away and had high tea. It was great to have some sister time without the Lambs (and Ram). It was fun to get dressed up for the tea. Unfortunately I caught the cold that everyone else in the family had had before me so I blew my nose through the whole tea time. It was still fun even with a cold.
The morning of the tea I decided to clean out my closet and remove all my nursing clothes. This turned out to be a bad idea because I was overwhelmed with nothing to wear. My sister finally agreed that I should wear this black skirt and red top. Then she helped me shop online for an Easter dress. She thinks I need to do some serious clothes shopping. I had very nice nursing dresses but nothing non-nursing in a size that fits. It's easier to say to go clothes shopping than to actually do it-I never find anything I like whether I am shopping online or at the mall. Add in that we live 3 hours from the mall and it gets even more complicated. I can sew, but I haven't set up my sewing supplies (or unpacked them) since we moved here almost 7 years ago. It would be a major project to find everything to sew something for myself. If shopping keeps being so difficult, I may have to do that major project whether I want to or not.
Two Sisters Tea Room just opened on Valentine's Day. We were their first high tea customers! We had finger sandwiches, cantaloupe, oranges, watermelon, grapes, brownie dessert, banana pudding dessert, chocolate covered strawberries, and of course the tea of our choice. It was delicious! Hannah is allergic to strawberries so we brought them home for the Lambs. All that fruit was a special treat for us during winter time. We didn't make it back before it was time to take our babysitter home, so Ram was nice enough to take her home so we had more sister time.
The morning of the tea I decided to clean out my closet and remove all my nursing clothes. This turned out to be a bad idea because I was overwhelmed with nothing to wear. My sister finally agreed that I should wear this black skirt and red top. Then she helped me shop online for an Easter dress. She thinks I need to do some serious clothes shopping. I had very nice nursing dresses but nothing non-nursing in a size that fits. It's easier to say to go clothes shopping than to actually do it-I never find anything I like whether I am shopping online or at the mall. Add in that we live 3 hours from the mall and it gets even more complicated. I can sew, but I haven't set up my sewing supplies (or unpacked them) since we moved here almost 7 years ago. It would be a major project to find everything to sew something for myself. If shopping keeps being so difficult, I may have to do that major project whether I want to or not.
Two Sisters Tea Room just opened on Valentine's Day. We were their first high tea customers! We had finger sandwiches, cantaloupe, oranges, watermelon, grapes, brownie dessert, banana pudding dessert, chocolate covered strawberries, and of course the tea of our choice. It was delicious! Hannah is allergic to strawberries so we brought them home for the Lambs. All that fruit was a special treat for us during winter time. We didn't make it back before it was time to take our babysitter home, so Ram was nice enough to take her home so we had more sister time.Monday, March 8, 2010
Weekend
Sorry for the lack of blog posts, but my sister and I have been busy watching Little House on the Prairie after the Lambs go to bed. We also shared a cold with her and we are both still recovering from the cold. We have had a great time with Aunt Hannah here and we will be sad when she goes home. I will eventually post photos of her visit and also a weekly school post (even though we've only done a little school while Aunt Hannah visited). Aunt Hannah helped Lamb 1 and 2 write their own stories and especially Lamb 1 got a lot of practical homeschool out of this activity.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Now one is Six
My sister was telling me about a lady at her church that is older that never owned a children's book before nor ever had anyone make a birthday cake for her. The pastor's daughter who is about the same age as Lamb 1, thought that was so sad! Sometimes I think about how my Lambs have never been to another child's birthday party besides our family and one other family from our church. Then I think about chauffeuring them to other children's birthday parties and I'm glad we homeschool! Lamb 1 won't admit it, but he had a great birthday today.
With 6 year old card from Ewe's parents and one of his favorite presents, a Thomas roundhouse.
With his presents before he opened them. Our babysitter gave him 4 goldfish and a small tank and fish food. I think she thought it was so sad that our Lambs didn't have any pets. The Lambs love feeding the fish each morning. Thank you, Graceann!
With the cabaca from Mama and Papa.
Aunt Hannah made Lamb 1 a homemade book. The title is "For the Love of Yellow". It is an alphabet book with each page a different item that is yellow. Lamb 1's favorite color is yellow. She had a really difficult time with "a", but she knew a Russian word for yellow starts with "z". She worked many hours on this homemade gift. Thank you, Aunt Hannah!
Before Lamb 1 could talk, he was probably about 2 1/2, we went to a toy store with Ram's parents. Grandma said Lamb 1 could pick out a Thomas toy for a treat. She meant an engine or maybe a small piece. We had just begun the whole Thomas adventure and we only owned a little track from when Ram was a boy (Brio is compatible) and a few engines at the time. Lamb 1 couldn't even talk and he immediately pointed that he wanted a roundhouse. Grandpa was with us and he declared right away that our Lambs would have to be much older before he was going to pay for a roundhouse! (I think it is the most expensive Thomas piece they sell.) Lamb 1 couldn't even talk and he remembered that day in the toy store. When he would write Christmas wish lists he would always skip asking for a roundhouse because he knew Grandpa said he had to be much older.
With 6 year old card from Ewe's parents and one of his favorite presents, a Thomas roundhouse.
With his presents before he opened them. Our babysitter gave him 4 goldfish and a small tank and fish food. I think she thought it was so sad that our Lambs didn't have any pets. The Lambs love feeding the fish each morning. Thank you, Graceann!
With the cabaca from Mama and Papa.
Aunt Hannah made Lamb 1 a homemade book. The title is "For the Love of Yellow". It is an alphabet book with each page a different item that is yellow. Lamb 1's favorite color is yellow. She had a really difficult time with "a", but she knew a Russian word for yellow starts with "z". She worked many hours on this homemade gift. Thank you, Aunt Hannah!
Before Lamb 1 could talk, he was probably about 2 1/2, we went to a toy store with Ram's parents. Grandma said Lamb 1 could pick out a Thomas toy for a treat. She meant an engine or maybe a small piece. We had just begun the whole Thomas adventure and we only owned a little track from when Ram was a boy (Brio is compatible) and a few engines at the time. Lamb 1 couldn't even talk and he immediately pointed that he wanted a roundhouse. Grandpa was with us and he declared right away that our Lambs would have to be much older before he was going to pay for a roundhouse! (I think it is the most expensive Thomas piece they sell.) Lamb 1 couldn't even talk and he remembered that day in the toy store. When he would write Christmas wish lists he would always skip asking for a roundhouse because he knew Grandpa said he had to be much older. Grandma decided she better buy the roundhouse now before Lamb 1 outgrew his interest in Thomas. So Grandpa told Grandma that age 6 was old enough to buy a roundhouse. All 3 Lambs played with it for a long time this morning. I encouraged them to build a track around the roundhouse, but they were too interested in playing with the roundhouse to do that. Thank you Ram's parents, for the roundhouse!
This is a puzzle with a track for a windup car. Pretty clever toy that Lamb 1 really liked.
For brunch we had French toast and bacon. Lamb 1 wore his "6" sticker and ate on his special plate. 
Aunt Hannah made a chocolate cake and put sprinkles in the shape of a "6" and of course yellow candles. Aunt Hannah is good at decorating cakes so perhaps I should have used her skills to make something that I can't do. Lamb 1 was pleased with his cake.
This is a puzzle with a track for a windup car. Pretty clever toy that Lamb 1 really liked.
For brunch we had French toast and bacon. Lamb 1 wore his "6" sticker and ate on his special plate.
Lamb 1 went to the eye doctor for a check up today. He did well today. The Dr. said he would not be surprised if at next year's checkup that Lamb 1 needs glasses. But he was fine today.
Aunt Hannah made spinach dip and Ram made guacamole this afternoon. We ate that and everyone was pretty full plus it was getting late. So we decided to have Lamb 1's birthday meal that he requested (Indian food-dal) tomorrow instead of tonight. Aunt Hannah was not looking forward to dal so she wasn't disappointed with this change of plans. After the chips and dips we had cake and the rainbow sherbet that Lamb 1 requested.
Aunt Hannah made a chocolate cake and put sprinkles in the shape of a "6" and of course yellow candles. Aunt Hannah is good at decorating cakes so perhaps I should have used her skills to make something that I can't do. Lamb 1 was pleased with his cake. Happy Birthday, Lamb 1!
Thursday, March 4, 2010
6
Lamb 1 on his 5th birthday-celebration supper of his choice-meatloaf, sweet potato fries, and corn.Lamb 1 turns 6 years old tomorrow. Recently people at church and in our local community and my sister have talked about how surprised they are that he is 6 tomorrow. I didn't really think about it until I started hearing those comments. The time went quickly! One of my bridesmaids had a baby boy named Joshua on March 2. She had a c-section because he was breech. Everything went well. It has been fun to remember what it was like to have Lamb 1 by looking at their photos. Her Joshua was just a few ozs smaller than Lamb 1. He was born about 15 minutes after Lamb 1. Many things are really similar for her Joshua and for Lamb 1 which makes it fun to remember 6 years ago.
Last year before Lamb 1's birthday, I posted his birth story. I also posted some photos of him. I looked and I was a bad Mama-I never posted photos of his birthday last year! I'll have to do better this year. My sister is here visiting. On Tuesday we went to the Twin Cities (4 hours) to get her from the airport. Yesterday was a busy day that I will post about later. Today the Lambs took Aunt Hannah to the local cafe for breakfast. Today we are going to make a cake for Lamb 1 and Aunt Hannah has to wrap his presents because she couldn't bring wrapped presents on the plane. For his birthday, Lamb 1 has to go to the eye doctor for a checkup and then we'll celebrate with a dinner for him. It is great to have Aunt Hannah here to celebrate with us.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Savings
I went shopping on Friday. Laura has been blogging about her savings. I'm not as good as her, partly because we don't have any chain drug stores here, but I did pretty well on Friday. It's a big deal for me to get these deals because we live so far from shopping that it is rare for me to get to the store when something is on sale AND my coupon hasn't expired. Here's some of my savings.
Local grocery-My coupons added up to $31.90. Some of the good deals-Daisy sour cream on sale for $2-50 cent coupon doubled. I only buy Daisy with natural ingredients now so I was happy to get Daisy for $1. Saltines 88 cents. Ice cream B1G1F. Lamb 2 has been begging for cole slaw and a bag was 88 cents. We have a great recipe for cole slaw. Canned tomatoes and sauce were on sale plus I had a coupon-I stocked up a lot because our supply in the freezer is almost gone and it is a few months until we have fresh tomatoes. I bought several cans and I don't know exactly the savings, but that is something we will go through quickly. Bacon B1G1F. Ram attended a parenting class and his reward for attending was a coupon to use at the local grocery. The coupon was $1 off every $15 you spend. So I got $3 more off my order. I forgot to remind the cashier after all these other coupons, but I should have got 5 cents off per my own reusable bag that I brought.
Liquor Store-I mailed the rebate in already and I don't remember, but I think it was $5 off my vodka for cleaning. Ram tried to also buy some Guiness Draught, but he didn't read the rebate correctly and they didn't have the correct size at the store.
Target-Purex laundry soap B1G1F-plus it was a bonus size bottle! Herbal Essences buy conditioner get hairspray free. I don't use hairspray but I'll give it away. My stock of shampoo was huge but I was getting low on conditioner. Nivea chapstick B1G1F. I don't wear makeup except for face lotion and chapstick. I love Nivea chapstick! 5 cents off per reusable bag I brought.
Local grocery-My coupons added up to $31.90. Some of the good deals-Daisy sour cream on sale for $2-50 cent coupon doubled. I only buy Daisy with natural ingredients now so I was happy to get Daisy for $1. Saltines 88 cents. Ice cream B1G1F. Lamb 2 has been begging for cole slaw and a bag was 88 cents. We have a great recipe for cole slaw. Canned tomatoes and sauce were on sale plus I had a coupon-I stocked up a lot because our supply in the freezer is almost gone and it is a few months until we have fresh tomatoes. I bought several cans and I don't know exactly the savings, but that is something we will go through quickly. Bacon B1G1F. Ram attended a parenting class and his reward for attending was a coupon to use at the local grocery. The coupon was $1 off every $15 you spend. So I got $3 more off my order. I forgot to remind the cashier after all these other coupons, but I should have got 5 cents off per my own reusable bag that I brought.
Liquor Store-I mailed the rebate in already and I don't remember, but I think it was $5 off my vodka for cleaning. Ram tried to also buy some Guiness Draught, but he didn't read the rebate correctly and they didn't have the correct size at the store.
Target-Purex laundry soap B1G1F-plus it was a bonus size bottle! Herbal Essences buy conditioner get hairspray free. I don't use hairspray but I'll give it away. My stock of shampoo was huge but I was getting low on conditioner. Nivea chapstick B1G1F. I don't wear makeup except for face lotion and chapstick. I love Nivea chapstick! 5 cents off per reusable bag I brought.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Commercials on TV
Ram's dad was nice enough to tape (to DVD) the 2010 Rose Bowl Parade for us. Lamb 2 was sick with a cold so we didn't go to church yesterday. I thought it was a good chance for the Lambs to watch the parade. They thought it was really cool that Grandpa had a title page on the DVD. 2010 Rose Bowl Parade for Lamb 1, Lamb 2, and Lamb 3 from Grandpa.
We watched the first section and then there were commercials. I told the Lambs they were allowed to go play or take a break during commercials and I would let them know when the parade was back on. Then we watched the second section. When we got to the second set of commercials, Lamb 1 asked a lot of questions about commercials. I could have fast forwarded the commercials but I didn't want to mess with it, plus the Lambs needed a little break during the long parade. When it came time for the parade to be back on, the Lambs didn't want to watch any more parade. They had enjoyed the parade, but not the commercials!
The Lambs watch movies, but we don't have TV. Even before we gave up TV last year, the Lambs rarely watched TV and when they did they watched PBS without commercials. Ram and I watched the Super Bowl commercials on the internet after the Lambs went to bed.
We watched the first section and then there were commercials. I told the Lambs they were allowed to go play or take a break during commercials and I would let them know when the parade was back on. Then we watched the second section. When we got to the second set of commercials, Lamb 1 asked a lot of questions about commercials. I could have fast forwarded the commercials but I didn't want to mess with it, plus the Lambs needed a little break during the long parade. When it came time for the parade to be back on, the Lambs didn't want to watch any more parade. They had enjoyed the parade, but not the commercials!
The Lambs watch movies, but we don't have TV. Even before we gave up TV last year, the Lambs rarely watched TV and when they did they watched PBS without commercials. Ram and I watched the Super Bowl commercials on the internet after the Lambs went to bed.
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