Everyday Megan complains, "I have nothing to wear!!" And she really doesn't. I have taken her shopping this spring and I haven't been able to find a lot of clothes that fit her. I mean, dresses that are skinny enough and long enough to go past her knees, she won't wear them if they are above her knees. She doesn't like shorts at all and will only wear capris, but only if she has to.
So for the last week, I have told her that we will go to Kohl's again and shop some more. This is where I have the most luck finding her clothes.
Yesterday we did just that and we finally found her some new clothes. On the clearance rack too!
She got 4 new dresses or skirts/ shirt outfits plus a pair of horse pajamas and Courtney got a dress and it was only $64!!!! I saved $197 in the end. Not only was each outfit around $10, I also had a 15% off coupon plus $10 off anything!!! Wow!! I definitely hit the jackpot!!
Each outfit is really cute and fits her great! I did let her get one outfit that was not on the clearance rack, but I thought we could get it since her other outfits were so cheap!
Then there was Courtney. "How come I don't get anything??" I let her get a $7 dress. It was only $7- I can't even buy a new dress at WalMart for that!!! (Don't forget 15% off that too).
I was pretty ecstatic plus I won't have to hear, "But mom, I have nothing to wear!!" until at least fall time. :)
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Courtney's New Diet
I went in and met with Dr. Mallory today to talk about Courtney's test results.
Her doctor recommended that we stay away from gluten, eggs, peanuts, and dairy for the next 3 months. Yikes! She has a high sensitivity to these foods and I need to give her stomach time to heal.
It's funny though because she's only had a reaction when I've given her whole grain bread, never eggs, milk, cheese, or peanut butter. My thoughts are 1. maybe she's just so used to her stomach hurting after she eats that she doesn't even notice it 2. she's really getting sick and not telling me 3. she's not sick at all, but then why would her numbers be so high on her test?
The doctor also said that she is highly sensitive to these foods because this is what she eats all the time. Every day, she has a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch. Everyday she has cheesesticks. Dr. Mallory says that this is her body's way of telling her that it has had enough of that food and that it wants something different (by building up a sensitivity to it and making her sick).
She said that after 3 months and when her body is healed, she can go back on these foods, but will need to rotate her meals. She cannot eat the same thing day after day, but every four days or so.
After I met with Dr. Mallory, I stopped over at HyVee and talked to their dietician for awhile. She helped me pick out some food that Courtney can eat and kind of get me started. I am going to meet with her next week for some more information.
I am also going to put Christian on this same diet (sorry Christian!). I can either get a food intolerance test done for him, which would include SOMEHOW getting two vials of blood out of him or try him on this diet first. The diet may be the less painful.
Anybody have any advice on what to feed my children??
Her doctor recommended that we stay away from gluten, eggs, peanuts, and dairy for the next 3 months. Yikes! She has a high sensitivity to these foods and I need to give her stomach time to heal.
It's funny though because she's only had a reaction when I've given her whole grain bread, never eggs, milk, cheese, or peanut butter. My thoughts are 1. maybe she's just so used to her stomach hurting after she eats that she doesn't even notice it 2. she's really getting sick and not telling me 3. she's not sick at all, but then why would her numbers be so high on her test?
The doctor also said that she is highly sensitive to these foods because this is what she eats all the time. Every day, she has a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch. Everyday she has cheesesticks. Dr. Mallory says that this is her body's way of telling her that it has had enough of that food and that it wants something different (by building up a sensitivity to it and making her sick).
She said that after 3 months and when her body is healed, she can go back on these foods, but will need to rotate her meals. She cannot eat the same thing day after day, but every four days or so.
After I met with Dr. Mallory, I stopped over at HyVee and talked to their dietician for awhile. She helped me pick out some food that Courtney can eat and kind of get me started. I am going to meet with her next week for some more information.
I am also going to put Christian on this same diet (sorry Christian!). I can either get a food intolerance test done for him, which would include SOMEHOW getting two vials of blood out of him or try him on this diet first. The diet may be the less painful.
Anybody have any advice on what to feed my children??
Monday, May 28, 2012
A first!
Yesterday Christian refused to take a nap again! We got home from lunch/ church and he was super cranky, so I put him to bed.
He refused to go to sleep and stood up and cried and cried and cried. Pretty soon, I heard him start to gag pretty hard...and then silence. Then some more crying, so I went in there.
The poor boy cried so hard, gagged, and threw up in his bed! Luckily it just got on one blanket and was pretty easy to clean up, but really Christian? Do you have to get soooo mad about it?
Today he cried all through lunch! Ugh, are we done napping already??Obviously he needs one still!
He refused to go to sleep and stood up and cried and cried and cried. Pretty soon, I heard him start to gag pretty hard...and then silence. Then some more crying, so I went in there.
The poor boy cried so hard, gagged, and threw up in his bed! Luckily it just got on one blanket and was pretty easy to clean up, but really Christian? Do you have to get soooo mad about it?
Today he cried all through lunch! Ugh, are we done napping already??Obviously he needs one still!
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Saturday's Lessons
Yesterday I spent the entire day at home trying to catch up on about everything! I didn't have to do any teaching to the kids, so it was a day where I could clean and they could play to their heart's content!
There were though, a few things that I learned yesterday and some of these may make you laugh. :)
1. I cleaned my master bathroom and master closet. Yikes! Why are there 15+ samples of shampoo, conditioner, lotion, soap, AND plastic shower caps from hotels on Matt's counter? Oh yes, he collected them and they will be great when we go camping. Why are they still out when he hasn't travelled for two months? Who knows!! And why the plastic shower caps? I don't know anybody around here who has uses those, so they went right in the trash!
Correction: I asked Matt about the hair nets this morning and he brought them home because he thought the girls would have fun with them. Yes, he is probably right. :) Go dig them out of the trash then!
I also put away his pile in the master closet that has been sitting there for about two months. Socks, bags, etc. And yes, his suitcase is still sitting outside the attic door waiting to be put away. :)
And while we are talking about my master bathroom, if anybody needs to use the first aid kit to get a bandaid, please don't leave it on my counter along with all the scraps from band-aids!
2. We painted our piano room and living room 3 weeks ago and have yet to get some curtains or shades back on our windows in the front. I don't like having open windows, but I don't want curtains up either.
I found out yesterday that if we ordered some Roman shades from Penney's, it would take 6 weeks to get here! Yikes! I may need to put some up that I don't like before then.
3. My theory with Christian is true. I need to get him outside for at lease a half an hour in order for him to take a nap. It was too hot yesterday and I was busy doing other things, so I didn't get him outside. I put him down for his nap at his regular time and he played in bed for an hour! Usually when I hear, "Mama up, mama up!" I know he's done playing and is not going to take a nap!
4. Oh cookie dough, you are my enemy! I made cookies about a week ago for Courtney's preschool program and I had a little bit of cookie dough left, so I stuck it in the freezer. Well, I found it yesterday and ate it. :) It was soooo good. I kept telling myself, "stop it, put it back" but I just couldn't. Soon the girls were helping me eat it and we were having a great time!
5. Why do I sometimes wait 4-5 days to clean my kitchen? Why do I clean it whenever something starts to smell? I know, bad theory, right! Yesterday it took me about an hour to do the dishes and clean off all the counters! (This was while Christian was supposed to be taking a nap!) If I would just do the dishes every night, I would stay on top of the mess and just keep it clean. But why when I can do them TOMORROW? (I do not do this all the time, sometimes I DO clean my kitchen after meals!)
6. I can tell that the girls are used to me teaching them every afternoon. By about 2 yesterday, they were wondering around looking for something to do. They had played in their playroom all morning and I think they were just used to me calling them downstairs for school about 2. Their playroom has been closed a lot this year (due to them not cleaning it- see a pattern here between mother and daughters and cleaning??), but I thought they would spend all day in there since it was actually open on the weekend! Finally I had Courtney go get a 300 piece puzzle and we did that together (Which we didn't finish yet and it still on our kitchen table, which meant we ate supper on table trays last night in front of the TV. Why didn't we eat on the dining room table??? Because it is still covered in books from the bookshelves that were in the living room. The bookshelves are now in the girls' room with their books on it. I need to figure out what to do with all my books now!)
PS Christian thought the puzzle was great fun too! HA! I had to put him in his high chair with the tray on it AND give him something to eat. He was all about messing the puzzle up! He was making Courtney and myself a little mad and wasn't understanding "No" at all!
7. I need to stop looking on the computer and ebay for curriculum next year or I am going to keep adding subjects to do! Yesterday I was debating whether I should add spelling for Megan, she's a pretty good speller, but it probably wouldn't hurt. Courtney will have spelling words in her curriculum, but I might want to add more challenging words. It would really help with their vocabulary and I know they REALLY push vocabulary words in public schools. We're going to think about this one.
I was also debating how to keep working with Courtney on her reading over the summer. Everything I do with her is "boring" and "not fun", but I don't know how to teach reading! I don't want to buy a year long curriculum right now and I don't want anything that I have to do everyday, but I do want something that is heavy on phonics and will teach her to decode words. Even though she is doing excellent on her reading, I want to keep teaching her.
After doing some researching for "phonics rules" online, I came to a curriculum that I think I am going to use to supplement for Megan next year in English. This is called Rod and Staff Publishing and they are very simple and very inexpensive books, but they look really good. They have a set called Phonics and the books are about $5 each plus a set of flashcards with all the sounds on the alphabet, even the combination sounds and all the sounds the vowels make. This is exactly what I am looking for! I might order these and do a lesson here and there and finish it up next year in kindergarten. Her curriculum teaches phonics, but it is not heavy on phonics.
I am also anxious to order all my curriculum for next year, but there is a used homeschool curriculum sale on June 9th here in Omaha. I need to tell myself to just wait until then! There is also another homeschool conference here in Omaha on August 3rd and 4th.
8. Matt is a whole lot better at inspiring our children than me! All year, they have struggled to do their chores and earn their nickels. This week, Matt really wanted them to earn triple nickels (do ALL your chores ALL week), so he encouraged them all week and they did it! We are very proud of them and they have a much cleaner playroom and bedroom because of it! Courtney also cleaned off the dinner table every night and they have had such great attitudes about everything! Hopefully we can keep this up!
9. I am taking Courtney back to see Dr. Mallory on Tuesday to talk to her about her test results. Everything Courtney wanted to eat this weekend was on her list of "do not eat anymore." No ice cream (but she can have the cone!), no peanuts, no peanut butter, no mac n cheese, no cheese sticks, etc. She seemed a little disappointed with it all, but I kept telling her that we will go talk to the doctor on Monday and see what she has to say. She has never had trouble with milk or peanut products before, just the whole grain products, we'll see what the doctor says. We are also going to get Christian tested this week, we need to figure out his trouble so we can have normal poop when we potty train!
Maybe I will learn some more lessons today! Enjoy your Memorial day weekend!
There were though, a few things that I learned yesterday and some of these may make you laugh. :)
1. I cleaned my master bathroom and master closet. Yikes! Why are there 15+ samples of shampoo, conditioner, lotion, soap, AND plastic shower caps from hotels on Matt's counter? Oh yes, he collected them and they will be great when we go camping. Why are they still out when he hasn't travelled for two months? Who knows!! And why the plastic shower caps? I don't know anybody around here who has uses those, so they went right in the trash!
Correction: I asked Matt about the hair nets this morning and he brought them home because he thought the girls would have fun with them. Yes, he is probably right. :) Go dig them out of the trash then!
I also put away his pile in the master closet that has been sitting there for about two months. Socks, bags, etc. And yes, his suitcase is still sitting outside the attic door waiting to be put away. :)
And while we are talking about my master bathroom, if anybody needs to use the first aid kit to get a bandaid, please don't leave it on my counter along with all the scraps from band-aids!
2. We painted our piano room and living room 3 weeks ago and have yet to get some curtains or shades back on our windows in the front. I don't like having open windows, but I don't want curtains up either.
I found out yesterday that if we ordered some Roman shades from Penney's, it would take 6 weeks to get here! Yikes! I may need to put some up that I don't like before then.
3. My theory with Christian is true. I need to get him outside for at lease a half an hour in order for him to take a nap. It was too hot yesterday and I was busy doing other things, so I didn't get him outside. I put him down for his nap at his regular time and he played in bed for an hour! Usually when I hear, "Mama up, mama up!" I know he's done playing and is not going to take a nap!
4. Oh cookie dough, you are my enemy! I made cookies about a week ago for Courtney's preschool program and I had a little bit of cookie dough left, so I stuck it in the freezer. Well, I found it yesterday and ate it. :) It was soooo good. I kept telling myself, "stop it, put it back" but I just couldn't. Soon the girls were helping me eat it and we were having a great time!
5. Why do I sometimes wait 4-5 days to clean my kitchen? Why do I clean it whenever something starts to smell? I know, bad theory, right! Yesterday it took me about an hour to do the dishes and clean off all the counters! (This was while Christian was supposed to be taking a nap!) If I would just do the dishes every night, I would stay on top of the mess and just keep it clean. But why when I can do them TOMORROW? (I do not do this all the time, sometimes I DO clean my kitchen after meals!)
6. I can tell that the girls are used to me teaching them every afternoon. By about 2 yesterday, they were wondering around looking for something to do. They had played in their playroom all morning and I think they were just used to me calling them downstairs for school about 2. Their playroom has been closed a lot this year (due to them not cleaning it- see a pattern here between mother and daughters and cleaning??), but I thought they would spend all day in there since it was actually open on the weekend! Finally I had Courtney go get a 300 piece puzzle and we did that together (Which we didn't finish yet and it still on our kitchen table, which meant we ate supper on table trays last night in front of the TV. Why didn't we eat on the dining room table??? Because it is still covered in books from the bookshelves that were in the living room. The bookshelves are now in the girls' room with their books on it. I need to figure out what to do with all my books now!)
PS Christian thought the puzzle was great fun too! HA! I had to put him in his high chair with the tray on it AND give him something to eat. He was all about messing the puzzle up! He was making Courtney and myself a little mad and wasn't understanding "No" at all!
7. I need to stop looking on the computer and ebay for curriculum next year or I am going to keep adding subjects to do! Yesterday I was debating whether I should add spelling for Megan, she's a pretty good speller, but it probably wouldn't hurt. Courtney will have spelling words in her curriculum, but I might want to add more challenging words. It would really help with their vocabulary and I know they REALLY push vocabulary words in public schools. We're going to think about this one.
I was also debating how to keep working with Courtney on her reading over the summer. Everything I do with her is "boring" and "not fun", but I don't know how to teach reading! I don't want to buy a year long curriculum right now and I don't want anything that I have to do everyday, but I do want something that is heavy on phonics and will teach her to decode words. Even though she is doing excellent on her reading, I want to keep teaching her.
After doing some researching for "phonics rules" online, I came to a curriculum that I think I am going to use to supplement for Megan next year in English. This is called Rod and Staff Publishing and they are very simple and very inexpensive books, but they look really good. They have a set called Phonics and the books are about $5 each plus a set of flashcards with all the sounds on the alphabet, even the combination sounds and all the sounds the vowels make. This is exactly what I am looking for! I might order these and do a lesson here and there and finish it up next year in kindergarten. Her curriculum teaches phonics, but it is not heavy on phonics.
I am also anxious to order all my curriculum for next year, but there is a used homeschool curriculum sale on June 9th here in Omaha. I need to tell myself to just wait until then! There is also another homeschool conference here in Omaha on August 3rd and 4th.
8. Matt is a whole lot better at inspiring our children than me! All year, they have struggled to do their chores and earn their nickels. This week, Matt really wanted them to earn triple nickels (do ALL your chores ALL week), so he encouraged them all week and they did it! We are very proud of them and they have a much cleaner playroom and bedroom because of it! Courtney also cleaned off the dinner table every night and they have had such great attitudes about everything! Hopefully we can keep this up!
9. I am taking Courtney back to see Dr. Mallory on Tuesday to talk to her about her test results. Everything Courtney wanted to eat this weekend was on her list of "do not eat anymore." No ice cream (but she can have the cone!), no peanuts, no peanut butter, no mac n cheese, no cheese sticks, etc. She seemed a little disappointed with it all, but I kept telling her that we will go talk to the doctor on Monday and see what she has to say. She has never had trouble with milk or peanut products before, just the whole grain products, we'll see what the doctor says. We are also going to get Christian tested this week, we need to figure out his trouble so we can have normal poop when we potty train!
Maybe I will learn some more lessons today! Enjoy your Memorial day weekend!
Friday, May 25, 2012
More "b"
We just got home from a morning at the Durham Western Heritage Museum.
Courtney was singing the ABC's in the backseat and whenever she was done, Christian would say, "More, more b!" So she would sing it again!
Do you think we will be able to teach him any more letters??
Courtney was singing the ABC's in the backseat and whenever she was done, Christian would say, "More, more b!" So she would sing it again!
Do you think we will be able to teach him any more letters??
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Courtney and food intolerances
This is another post about Courtney, it might turn out a little long, but I want to get everything down.
About two weeks ago, Courtney was really sick. I had bought some new bread that week (no high fructose corn syrup plus 100% whole grain) and after we had it a few days, Courtney started saying that her tummy hurt. She is usually my pretty healthy kid, so I kept an eye on her, but wasn't too concerned and I didn't make her eat the bread anymore.
Wednesday. May 10th Grandma brought some 8 grain bread from a bread store here in town and shared it with my girls. They love toast with sugar and cinnamon, so between us all, we ate almost the whole loaf!
Thursday, May 11th. The girls and I had dentist appointments in the morning. After our appointments, we headed up to the mall to get lunch with the grandma (the other one!) and to look at shades/ curtains for my piano room. Courtney had gotten food from Sarku and after she had eaten a little bit, she looked at me and said she needed to go to the bathroom. She does this a lot in the middle of meals, so I took her. She also didn't look right, so I was a little concerned. I took her to the bathroom and she went potty. No big deal, but when we left to leave, she got pretty pale and held her stomach and started to cry. She said her stomach hurt so bad! Poor thing!! I ended up carrying her back to our table because it hurt to walk. She didn't eat anymore food and I took her home.
Once we got home, she watched a movie and then took a two hour nap. Again, not like her! I called the dentist to see if they had given her anything that would make her sick and they said no. Ok, time to call Dr. Mallory Rupp. She is who I have been consulting for my health issues and I think she does a great job! She is a holistic internal doctor/ chiropractor and sees things differently than medical doctors. She thought that she might be having a food intolerance problem. I also told her that when she was about 15 months old, she had diarrhea for about 6 weeks and we ended up at a pediatric GI doctor with "toddlers' diarrhea." We were dealing with the same situation now and I swear when she was younger, we had given her whole grain bread too about the same time that she gotten sick.
Friday, May 12th. I took Courtney in to see Dr. Mallory right away Friday morning and she said there was definitely something going on. When Dr. Mallory pushed on her stomach, Courtney winced. She said if she was faking it, she wouldn't have winced. I told her some of Courtney's history and told her that we had recently swtiched bread. This made her suspect a whole grain intolerance. She also said that Japanese food is full of wheat and soy, so this could've made her ill on Thursday. Courtney had also been eating very little lately because of her stomach aches, the more she ate, the more it hurt.
She recommended that we do a food intolerance blood test, so after preschool, I fed Courtney the bread that I was suspecting was making her sick (I know, bad mom!) and then went and had her blood drawn. The doctor wanted it done after she ate so the antibodies would be at their highest peak (or something like that). We got her tested against 96 different foods.
Friday night- We went to see a play at the Rose Theatre and we ate supper right before we left. Halfway there, Courtney said her stomach hurt and we made about 4 trips to the bathroom while we are at the theatre. She wss really sick!
After this, Courtney has been fine. No stomach trouble, no pain, nothing that she tells me anyway. :)
Today: I get a call back from Dr. Mallory and she told me that Courtney definitely has some issues. She wanted me to come in next week, but I begged her to tell me some of her results. She said that Courtney's numbers were high on quite a few foods. Some of them were cow's milk, cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, peanuts, and all whole grains! No wonder she got so sick! I was shocked at the other products though. She eats cheese and peanut butter daily! Dr. Mallory said that even though she looks fine on the outside, she probably has some inflamation on the inside. She also said that since they were food intolerances now, she could probably outgrow them if we pulled them out of her diet while she was still young and let her gut heal. She said if we didn't, they could turn into full-blown allergies and then she might not be able to eat these foods the rest of her life! Wow! I definitely want to get her better.
I then told Dr. Mallory that Courtney LOVES cheese and she said that her body will crave the foods that it knows it shouldn't have. This is why she craves chees, cheese-sticks, mac and cheese, mac and cheese pizza, shredded cheese, etc. She also wants peanut butter and jelly every single day for lunch. I am just amazed at all this! I am very anxious to go in next week and to see the full results. I was telling Courtney about it all tonight and she said, "What am I going to eat then?" I don't know Courtney! This is definitely something to talk to the doctor about.
Next one to get tested is Christian. He has had loose stools since last October and I am so afraid we are going to get sent to a pediatric GI doctor and his problem will get labeled as "toddler's diarrhea" again. I haven't pursued it much with our pediatrician, but I am definitely going to get him tested now with Dr. Mallory! I will probably be just as amazed when we get his results back too! (This might also explain why he gets runny noses every so often).
About two weeks ago, Courtney was really sick. I had bought some new bread that week (no high fructose corn syrup plus 100% whole grain) and after we had it a few days, Courtney started saying that her tummy hurt. She is usually my pretty healthy kid, so I kept an eye on her, but wasn't too concerned and I didn't make her eat the bread anymore.
Wednesday. May 10th Grandma brought some 8 grain bread from a bread store here in town and shared it with my girls. They love toast with sugar and cinnamon, so between us all, we ate almost the whole loaf!
Thursday, May 11th. The girls and I had dentist appointments in the morning. After our appointments, we headed up to the mall to get lunch with the grandma (the other one!) and to look at shades/ curtains for my piano room. Courtney had gotten food from Sarku and after she had eaten a little bit, she looked at me and said she needed to go to the bathroom. She does this a lot in the middle of meals, so I took her. She also didn't look right, so I was a little concerned. I took her to the bathroom and she went potty. No big deal, but when we left to leave, she got pretty pale and held her stomach and started to cry. She said her stomach hurt so bad! Poor thing!! I ended up carrying her back to our table because it hurt to walk. She didn't eat anymore food and I took her home.
Once we got home, she watched a movie and then took a two hour nap. Again, not like her! I called the dentist to see if they had given her anything that would make her sick and they said no. Ok, time to call Dr. Mallory Rupp. She is who I have been consulting for my health issues and I think she does a great job! She is a holistic internal doctor/ chiropractor and sees things differently than medical doctors. She thought that she might be having a food intolerance problem. I also told her that when she was about 15 months old, she had diarrhea for about 6 weeks and we ended up at a pediatric GI doctor with "toddlers' diarrhea." We were dealing with the same situation now and I swear when she was younger, we had given her whole grain bread too about the same time that she gotten sick.
Friday, May 12th. I took Courtney in to see Dr. Mallory right away Friday morning and she said there was definitely something going on. When Dr. Mallory pushed on her stomach, Courtney winced. She said if she was faking it, she wouldn't have winced. I told her some of Courtney's history and told her that we had recently swtiched bread. This made her suspect a whole grain intolerance. She also said that Japanese food is full of wheat and soy, so this could've made her ill on Thursday. Courtney had also been eating very little lately because of her stomach aches, the more she ate, the more it hurt.
She recommended that we do a food intolerance blood test, so after preschool, I fed Courtney the bread that I was suspecting was making her sick (I know, bad mom!) and then went and had her blood drawn. The doctor wanted it done after she ate so the antibodies would be at their highest peak (or something like that). We got her tested against 96 different foods.
Friday night- We went to see a play at the Rose Theatre and we ate supper right before we left. Halfway there, Courtney said her stomach hurt and we made about 4 trips to the bathroom while we are at the theatre. She wss really sick!
After this, Courtney has been fine. No stomach trouble, no pain, nothing that she tells me anyway. :)
Today: I get a call back from Dr. Mallory and she told me that Courtney definitely has some issues. She wanted me to come in next week, but I begged her to tell me some of her results. She said that Courtney's numbers were high on quite a few foods. Some of them were cow's milk, cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, peanuts, and all whole grains! No wonder she got so sick! I was shocked at the other products though. She eats cheese and peanut butter daily! Dr. Mallory said that even though she looks fine on the outside, she probably has some inflamation on the inside. She also said that since they were food intolerances now, she could probably outgrow them if we pulled them out of her diet while she was still young and let her gut heal. She said if we didn't, they could turn into full-blown allergies and then she might not be able to eat these foods the rest of her life! Wow! I definitely want to get her better.
I then told Dr. Mallory that Courtney LOVES cheese and she said that her body will crave the foods that it knows it shouldn't have. This is why she craves chees, cheese-sticks, mac and cheese, mac and cheese pizza, shredded cheese, etc. She also wants peanut butter and jelly every single day for lunch. I am just amazed at all this! I am very anxious to go in next week and to see the full results. I was telling Courtney about it all tonight and she said, "What am I going to eat then?" I don't know Courtney! This is definitely something to talk to the doctor about.
Next one to get tested is Christian. He has had loose stools since last October and I am so afraid we are going to get sent to a pediatric GI doctor and his problem will get labeled as "toddler's diarrhea" again. I haven't pursued it much with our pediatrician, but I am definitely going to get him tested now with Dr. Mallory! I will probably be just as amazed when we get his results back too! (This might also explain why he gets runny noses every so often).
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Randon Stories about my Children
1. Now that we have decided we are going to homeschool both girls next year and Courtney is done with preschool, she picked up her backpack the other day and said to me, "Now what am I going to do with my backpack since I'm NOT going to public school??" (With a note of sarcasm! She keeps telling me she wants to go to public school next year.)
2. Christian has been picking up things during Courtney's reading lessons. Every time he sees a word or some letters, he says "B?"
3. The other day, I took the three kids to a park to play for the morning. We met up with some fellow homeschoolers and we stayed for over 2 hours! When I told Courtney it was time to go, she said that she couldn't find her other flip-flop. Her friend had buried it in the sand and she didn't know where it was. I said, "Really?" So I went over the playground where she said it was supposed to be and looked around, but I didn't find it. I told her that we really needed to get going and that daddy and her could come back that evening and look for it some more. She wasn't upset, but she was a little disappointed to be going home with just one shoe.
That evening, we all went back to the park to look for her pink flip-flop and we didn't find it. If you are ever at the park at 192nd and Dodge and find a pink flip flop in the sand, it is probably Courtney's!
4. Megan is totally addicted to the Boxcar Children books. She reads 2-3 a day sometimes! The library has 3 shelves of them, so today we took back about 10 and checked another 15 out! She is such an avid reader!
5. Speaking of reading, Courtney is starting to read books on her own. She knows over 30 words by sight now and is working on about another 30. She is doing awesome! I have the 1st grade language arts/ reading curriculum upstairs which she will be more than ready for in the fall! She tells people that she is going to be in the 1st grade next year (even though she's not!).
6. Courtney also has this saying lately. "I don't want to talk about it." Whenever she does something wrong or something she is embarresed about, she "doesn't want to talk about it." It's cute!
2. Christian has been picking up things during Courtney's reading lessons. Every time he sees a word or some letters, he says "B?"
3. The other day, I took the three kids to a park to play for the morning. We met up with some fellow homeschoolers and we stayed for over 2 hours! When I told Courtney it was time to go, she said that she couldn't find her other flip-flop. Her friend had buried it in the sand and she didn't know where it was. I said, "Really?" So I went over the playground where she said it was supposed to be and looked around, but I didn't find it. I told her that we really needed to get going and that daddy and her could come back that evening and look for it some more. She wasn't upset, but she was a little disappointed to be going home with just one shoe.
That evening, we all went back to the park to look for her pink flip-flop and we didn't find it. If you are ever at the park at 192nd and Dodge and find a pink flip flop in the sand, it is probably Courtney's!
4. Megan is totally addicted to the Boxcar Children books. She reads 2-3 a day sometimes! The library has 3 shelves of them, so today we took back about 10 and checked another 15 out! She is such an avid reader!
5. Speaking of reading, Courtney is starting to read books on her own. She knows over 30 words by sight now and is working on about another 30. She is doing awesome! I have the 1st grade language arts/ reading curriculum upstairs which she will be more than ready for in the fall! She tells people that she is going to be in the 1st grade next year (even though she's not!).
6. Courtney also has this saying lately. "I don't want to talk about it." Whenever she does something wrong or something she is embarresed about, she "doesn't want to talk about it." It's cute!
Monday, May 21, 2012
School is ending!
This is a week of transition. Last week, Courtney finished off preschool and this week, Megan will finish up homeschooling. Megan had her last art class at Aldrich Elementary this morning.
She has about two weeks left of dance and then we will be done with that too.
What are we going to do all summer??
1. Megan is requesting to learn German, so I think we will do that.
2. Courtney is requesting not to work on reading, but Matt and I think she should.
3. We are going to join the summer reading program at the local libraries. Hopefully they will have some fun morning events that we can do.
4. Lots and lots of park days!
5. A local homeschooling group is continuing to meet all summer and we are going to join them as much as we can. I can do much more when I don't have to pick Courtney up from preschool at 11:30!
6. I would love to go swimming, but since Christian naps in the afternoons, we need to stay home and the pools are not open in the morning.
7. Hopefully we are going to do some camping and maybe take a week-long trip somewhere.
8. We are going to attend a couple of weddings back home.
Add in the usual errands, birthday parties, doctor appointments, grocery shopping, and piano lessons, we are going to have a full summer!
She has about two weeks left of dance and then we will be done with that too.
What are we going to do all summer??
1. Megan is requesting to learn German, so I think we will do that.
2. Courtney is requesting not to work on reading, but Matt and I think she should.
3. We are going to join the summer reading program at the local libraries. Hopefully they will have some fun morning events that we can do.
4. Lots and lots of park days!
5. A local homeschooling group is continuing to meet all summer and we are going to join them as much as we can. I can do much more when I don't have to pick Courtney up from preschool at 11:30!
6. I would love to go swimming, but since Christian naps in the afternoons, we need to stay home and the pools are not open in the morning.
7. Hopefully we are going to do some camping and maybe take a week-long trip somewhere.
8. We are going to attend a couple of weddings back home.
Add in the usual errands, birthday parties, doctor appointments, grocery shopping, and piano lessons, we are going to have a full summer!
Compassionate Courtney
Courtney has always been very compassionate, but I have noticed lately, that her heart is getting bigger!! And not only for fellow humans, but for animals!
Last week, my parents had to put their dog down. Once Courtney finally figured out what they did (put her down= he died), she got very upset! Her exact quote was, "But I loved him, why did they have to make him die??" She cried for a long time! This strikes us as odd because she never liked my parents' dog!
I was talking about it again later that day and she got upset all over again!
Yesterday, we had a tiny spider crawling down our back windows. When Matt got up to kill it, Courtey starts getting upset and said, "You can't kill it, it's a spider!" Matt said, "Do you want spiders crawling over you at night?" Of course, she replied no. Matt told Courtney he was really sorry, but he had to kill and he went ahead and got him. Poor Courtney, she went right into tears!
She has been doing this a lot lately. We have had some ants in the house and instead of killing them, she caught them and put them in her ant farm container. She caught 11 of them one day. Unfortunately, they all died. She won't let us kill any bugs or anything, we might have to get rid of them behind her back.
It is going to be a real sad day for Courtney when we have to put Dell down. She is developing another bump on her neck- this is 3 now- so hopefully she'll keep going awhile!
Last week, my parents had to put their dog down. Once Courtney finally figured out what they did (put her down= he died), she got very upset! Her exact quote was, "But I loved him, why did they have to make him die??" She cried for a long time! This strikes us as odd because she never liked my parents' dog!
I was talking about it again later that day and she got upset all over again!
Yesterday, we had a tiny spider crawling down our back windows. When Matt got up to kill it, Courtey starts getting upset and said, "You can't kill it, it's a spider!" Matt said, "Do you want spiders crawling over you at night?" Of course, she replied no. Matt told Courtney he was really sorry, but he had to kill and he went ahead and got him. Poor Courtney, she went right into tears!
She has been doing this a lot lately. We have had some ants in the house and instead of killing them, she caught them and put them in her ant farm container. She caught 11 of them one day. Unfortunately, they all died. She won't let us kill any bugs or anything, we might have to get rid of them behind her back.
It is going to be a real sad day for Courtney when we have to put Dell down. She is developing another bump on her neck- this is 3 now- so hopefully she'll keep going awhile!
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Shopping today
Aside from buying Courtney's penguin picture today and Megan's horse picture, we ended up at Walmart for groceries. If you were wondering, I was going to post Megan's picture on Facebook too, but as it was downloading, I dropped my phone and it came apart. The pictures aren't even on my phone anymore. :(
Anyway, we had two people comment on us today.
1. I was making the girls get some canned fruit off the shelves and I was trying to make sure they knew which ones I wanted (Great value brand, sugar free). As another lady walked by, she said, "You're a good mom." Well, thanks!
2. We were going down the bread aisle and there was an employee restocking shelves. He looked at us and said, "No school today or is it out for the summer already?"
I responded with, "We homeschool."
He responded after he thought about it for a little bit, "That's the way to go these days!"
I said back, "Yes, my children are learning much more at the store today than they would sitting in a classroom for 8 hours." He just smiled and off I went.
They were very cooperative this morning, they helped whenever I asked and didn't give me any trouble! They often fought over who was going to help me do something! When we got home, they helped me unload the car too. Unfortunately, the groceries are still in sacks because I wanted to feed them lunch and let them play awhile.
We also talked a lot about prices, ounces, and making sure we were getting the best deals. I'm so thankful I can teach them these skills!
Anyway, we had two people comment on us today.
1. I was making the girls get some canned fruit off the shelves and I was trying to make sure they knew which ones I wanted (Great value brand, sugar free). As another lady walked by, she said, "You're a good mom." Well, thanks!
2. We were going down the bread aisle and there was an employee restocking shelves. He looked at us and said, "No school today or is it out for the summer already?"
I responded with, "We homeschool."
He responded after he thought about it for a little bit, "That's the way to go these days!"
I said back, "Yes, my children are learning much more at the store today than they would sitting in a classroom for 8 hours." He just smiled and off I went.
They were very cooperative this morning, they helped whenever I asked and didn't give me any trouble! They often fought over who was going to help me do something! When we got home, they helped me unload the car too. Unfortunately, the groceries are still in sacks because I wanted to feed them lunch and let them play awhile.
We also talked a lot about prices, ounces, and making sure we were getting the best deals. I'm so thankful I can teach them these skills!
It's amazing what you can learn from money!
Today I mentioned to the girls that we were going to go get groceries this morning and right way they said, "Can we take our money?" Matt wants them to SPEND their money, so they will run out and then do their chores more to earn some more!
So I said, "sure." They ran upstairs and got their money jars and proceeded to dump their money on the kitchen table and start to count it.
Here is my conversation with Courtney as she was looking at all her money.
Me: How much is a penny worth?
C: One cent!
Me: How many nickels do you need for one dollar?
C: 20
Me: Who is on the one collar coin?
C: Sacagawea
She then proceeded to count out 20 nickels and put them into piles, I helped her eventually, but she had about $9.
Here is my conversation with Megan. She knows all the denominations, so she got drilled on history (let's see how much she learned this year)
Me: Who is on the quarter?
M: George Washington
Me: What did he do?
M: He was the first president of the United States.
Me: Who is on the nickel?
M: Thomas Jefferson
Me: What did he do?
M: He wrote the...hmmmm...thingy...hmmm.
Me: think..July 4th, 1776
M: Oh yah, the Declaration of Independence!
Me: Who is on the penny?
M; Abraham Lincoln
Me: What did he do?
M: Um.. he um..made the United States one. (she means that he fought the Civil War in order to keep the United States together as one country since the south seceded)
Me: Explain further.
M: He ended slavery and the president during the Civil War.
Me: Who is on the dime?
M: I don't know.
Me: Let me see, it looks like Roosevelt. ( I looked online to double check and I was correct).
M: Who was Roosevelt?
Me: He was our president during WWII, we'll learn about that next year!
I switch back to Courtney.
Me: Why was Sacagewea so important?
C: She went with Louis and Clark!
Me: What did Louis and Clark do?
C: Sailed the seven seas?
Me: No, they explored the Louisiana Purchase.
Turn back to Megan.
Me: What was the Louisiana Purchase?
M: The Mississippi River
Me : Close, it was the land around the Mississippi River that we bought from France.
Why did we buy that land from France?
Me: They were fighting the French Revolution and needed the money.
Me: Why were they fighting the French Revolution:
M: Because America had just had their revolution and they wanted freedom.
Ah, I think we have definitely learned something this year in school!!!
So I said, "sure." They ran upstairs and got their money jars and proceeded to dump their money on the kitchen table and start to count it.
Here is my conversation with Courtney as she was looking at all her money.
Me: How much is a penny worth?
C: One cent!
Me: How many nickels do you need for one dollar?
C: 20
Me: Who is on the one collar coin?
C: Sacagawea
She then proceeded to count out 20 nickels and put them into piles, I helped her eventually, but she had about $9.
Here is my conversation with Megan. She knows all the denominations, so she got drilled on history (let's see how much she learned this year)
Me: Who is on the quarter?
M: George Washington
Me: What did he do?
M: He was the first president of the United States.
Me: Who is on the nickel?
M: Thomas Jefferson
Me: What did he do?
M: He wrote the...hmmmm...thingy...hmmm.
Me: think..July 4th, 1776
M: Oh yah, the Declaration of Independence!
Me: Who is on the penny?
M; Abraham Lincoln
Me: What did he do?
M: Um.. he um..made the United States one. (she means that he fought the Civil War in order to keep the United States together as one country since the south seceded)
Me: Explain further.
M: He ended slavery and the president during the Civil War.
Me: Who is on the dime?
M: I don't know.
Me: Let me see, it looks like Roosevelt. ( I looked online to double check and I was correct).
M: Who was Roosevelt?
Me: He was our president during WWII, we'll learn about that next year!
I switch back to Courtney.
Me: Why was Sacagewea so important?
C: She went with Louis and Clark!
Me: What did Louis and Clark do?
C: Sailed the seven seas?
Me: No, they explored the Louisiana Purchase.
Turn back to Megan.
Me: What was the Louisiana Purchase?
M: The Mississippi River
Me : Close, it was the land around the Mississippi River that we bought from France.
Why did we buy that land from France?
Me: They were fighting the French Revolution and needed the money.
Me: Why were they fighting the French Revolution:
M: Because America had just had their revolution and they wanted freedom.
Ah, I think we have definitely learned something this year in school!!!
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Summer Plans
Now that school is winding down, I am beginning to think about summer plans. Courtney has one week of preschool left and Megan has two weeks of school left.
My plan all winter was to join Prarie Life Fitness again. I joined there last summer and we LIVED at their pool! It was great! We didn't do much else because when you pay a lot of money for a membership, you want to be there everyday! Just for reference, I paid $130 a month last year for the gym and this included a free session of swimming lessons.
I quit the gym in January and it was a great decision! This really enabled me to focus on homeschooling and get involved in some groups around town.
This spring, I continued to tell the girls that we would join Prarie Life again for the upcoming summer. They offer gymnastics there and I told them over and over that they could take gymnastics.
This was our plan until yesterday.
We are not going to join Prarie Life for the summer. Why?? Because it costs too much!
I called yesterday and talked to a membership representative. They had two different deals for me.
1. Myself plus 3 children on a month-to-month basis, cost was $181.80 per month!! (don't forget $49 initiation fee plus $70 for both girls to take gymnastics). I had only planned on joining for 3 months, so this grand total was $664.40!!!! WOW!!!!!
2. The other plan was for myself and 3 children on a summer membership. This would be good for three months and then we would be done. This was $567! (no initiation fee, but still $70 for gymnastics). This grand total was $637!!!
My jaw dropped. They had definitely raised their rates from last summer!
In comparison, I could get a membership to the city of Omaha pools for the summer at the price of $175 and then $40 per session per kid for swimming lessons.
I also called around to other places for gymnastics and they were about $40 per month for 4 one hour sessions.
So in the end, I don't think we are going to join anything! We are going to do our own thing. Christian naps every afternoon from about 1-4, so we can't go sit at the pool all afternoon like we did last year. We might be visiting a lot of parks or spray parks in the morning this summer! If I want to take the kids swimming, it might be in late afternoon and I probably will just pay the entrance fee. The library also has great programming all summer that we can attend. By not joining anything, I don't have to feel guilty that we only need to go there because we are paying for it! I am kind of looking forward to it!
My plan all winter was to join Prarie Life Fitness again. I joined there last summer and we LIVED at their pool! It was great! We didn't do much else because when you pay a lot of money for a membership, you want to be there everyday! Just for reference, I paid $130 a month last year for the gym and this included a free session of swimming lessons.
I quit the gym in January and it was a great decision! This really enabled me to focus on homeschooling and get involved in some groups around town.
This spring, I continued to tell the girls that we would join Prarie Life again for the upcoming summer. They offer gymnastics there and I told them over and over that they could take gymnastics.
This was our plan until yesterday.
We are not going to join Prarie Life for the summer. Why?? Because it costs too much!
I called yesterday and talked to a membership representative. They had two different deals for me.
1. Myself plus 3 children on a month-to-month basis, cost was $181.80 per month!! (don't forget $49 initiation fee plus $70 for both girls to take gymnastics). I had only planned on joining for 3 months, so this grand total was $664.40!!!! WOW!!!!!
2. The other plan was for myself and 3 children on a summer membership. This would be good for three months and then we would be done. This was $567! (no initiation fee, but still $70 for gymnastics). This grand total was $637!!!
My jaw dropped. They had definitely raised their rates from last summer!
In comparison, I could get a membership to the city of Omaha pools for the summer at the price of $175 and then $40 per session per kid for swimming lessons.
I also called around to other places for gymnastics and they were about $40 per month for 4 one hour sessions.
So in the end, I don't think we are going to join anything! We are going to do our own thing. Christian naps every afternoon from about 1-4, so we can't go sit at the pool all afternoon like we did last year. We might be visiting a lot of parks or spray parks in the morning this summer! If I want to take the kids swimming, it might be in late afternoon and I probably will just pay the entrance fee. The library also has great programming all summer that we can attend. By not joining anything, I don't have to feel guilty that we only need to go there because we are paying for it! I am kind of looking forward to it!
Changes!
Spring time always makes me want to change things. This spring is no different.
1. Monday I cut about 6 inches off of my hair. I love it short!
2. Monday and Tuesday we had our living room and piano room painted!!! Finally after 4 years of living here, we took those UGLY curtains and drapes down! They are sitting in the trash cans on the curb at this moment waiting for the trash men to haul them away! My living room is great! We moved all the bookshelves upstairs and only have the piano and one bookshelf in the other room. I am so excited, I feel like I am finally growing up!
The painter determined that the white walls in our house were the originally white walls that they painted when the house was built in 1994! They were really dirty and I am really anxious to get some color in my house! Now if I only knew how to decorate and pick out new shades or blinds...
3. I bought myself a new purse. I went to the homeschooling conference a couple of weeks ago and determined that I could not take my ugly diaper bag, so I went and bought a purse! When I got home, I realized that I really don't need to carry 3-4 diapers and extra clothes for Christian anymore. I just through a small wipes packages and an extra diaper in my purse! This works great!! I think I will stick with it.
1. Monday I cut about 6 inches off of my hair. I love it short!
2. Monday and Tuesday we had our living room and piano room painted!!! Finally after 4 years of living here, we took those UGLY curtains and drapes down! They are sitting in the trash cans on the curb at this moment waiting for the trash men to haul them away! My living room is great! We moved all the bookshelves upstairs and only have the piano and one bookshelf in the other room. I am so excited, I feel like I am finally growing up!
The painter determined that the white walls in our house were the originally white walls that they painted when the house was built in 1994! They were really dirty and I am really anxious to get some color in my house! Now if I only knew how to decorate and pick out new shades or blinds...
3. I bought myself a new purse. I went to the homeschooling conference a couple of weeks ago and determined that I could not take my ugly diaper bag, so I went and bought a purse! When I got home, I realized that I really don't need to carry 3-4 diapers and extra clothes for Christian anymore. I just through a small wipes packages and an extra diaper in my purse! This works great!! I think I will stick with it.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
My artist
Christian had a first today.
The first time he drew on my windows.
I was on the phone and not really watching him and once I turned around, he had nice circles scribbled on each of the back windows of the kitchen. He said, "My draw!" yes, Christian.
He did it in colors, so it will come off pretty easily. I wanted to show Matt, so I kept it on there.
This is the same day that we had somebody come paint our living room and piano room.
I really hope I can keep ahead of him. He had two markers this afternoon in his hands without the lids on. These were left on the table by the girls after school. I stole those from him right away!
Again, we are emphasizing, "ONLY on paper and ONLY at the kitchen table."
If I can drill these rules into his brain, we might be ok and we might be able to save the house!
The first time he drew on my windows.
I was on the phone and not really watching him and once I turned around, he had nice circles scribbled on each of the back windows of the kitchen. He said, "My draw!" yes, Christian.
He did it in colors, so it will come off pretty easily. I wanted to show Matt, so I kept it on there.
This is the same day that we had somebody come paint our living room and piano room.
I really hope I can keep ahead of him. He had two markers this afternoon in his hands without the lids on. These were left on the table by the girls after school. I stole those from him right away!
Again, we are emphasizing, "ONLY on paper and ONLY at the kitchen table."
If I can drill these rules into his brain, we might be ok and we might be able to save the house!
Friday, May 4, 2012
Need to get back to blogging!
I can't believe I haven't been on here for over a week! what is wrong with me??
Oh yes, Life has been busy PLUS blogger changed things around and I had to figure out how to blog again!
Just because I am thinking about it, I wanted to write down Christian's new words or what they mean. :)
ride- a stroller or a wagon
go ride- go on a stroller or a wagon ride
(this even applies to the baby stroller. if you say "go ride," he'll go get that too)
more ride- he wants to keep going!
pushy- Squooshy, which is what Courtney calls a penguin.
he loves to draw (or draw circles on a piece of paper) lately too, so he says, "draw" or "More, more draw." He is pretty good about coloring on paper, but he might be my child who draws all over the house. I wasn't watching him very good yesterday when him and Courtney were "drawing" and he came over to me and had yellow marker up and down his arm and on his face! I am trying to implement, "We draw ONLY on paper and ONLY at the kitchen table." He doesn't like to color with colors, only markers or pens. I think half the fun for him is taking the cap on and off.
He always colors and eats with his left hand, so we think he is going to be a lefty.
He can say juice and even bapple juice (apple juice).
wawa is water, but he has said that for awhile.
Yesterday, a neighbor brought his lawn tractor over to give Christian a ride. Christian would not let go of the steering wheel when he was done! He said "More more tractor, my tractor, sit tractor, sit my tractor!" I eventually pulled him off and he didn't cry too bad! Our neighbor said he would give him another ride next time he mowed, if Christian was outside again. I think Christian found a new best friend!
Besides his new phrases, I cannot keep this boy out of the snack drawer. Every time I turn around, he's got snacks in his hand. We might need to block those shut again, so he doesn't graze all day.
My boy turns 2 in a month, can you believe it??
Oh yes, Life has been busy PLUS blogger changed things around and I had to figure out how to blog again!
Just because I am thinking about it, I wanted to write down Christian's new words or what they mean. :)
ride- a stroller or a wagon
go ride- go on a stroller or a wagon ride
(this even applies to the baby stroller. if you say "go ride," he'll go get that too)
more ride- he wants to keep going!
pushy- Squooshy, which is what Courtney calls a penguin.
he loves to draw (or draw circles on a piece of paper) lately too, so he says, "draw" or "More, more draw." He is pretty good about coloring on paper, but he might be my child who draws all over the house. I wasn't watching him very good yesterday when him and Courtney were "drawing" and he came over to me and had yellow marker up and down his arm and on his face! I am trying to implement, "We draw ONLY on paper and ONLY at the kitchen table." He doesn't like to color with colors, only markers or pens. I think half the fun for him is taking the cap on and off.
He always colors and eats with his left hand, so we think he is going to be a lefty.
He can say juice and even bapple juice (apple juice).
wawa is water, but he has said that for awhile.
Yesterday, a neighbor brought his lawn tractor over to give Christian a ride. Christian would not let go of the steering wheel when he was done! He said "More more tractor, my tractor, sit tractor, sit my tractor!" I eventually pulled him off and he didn't cry too bad! Our neighbor said he would give him another ride next time he mowed, if Christian was outside again. I think Christian found a new best friend!
Besides his new phrases, I cannot keep this boy out of the snack drawer. Every time I turn around, he's got snacks in his hand. We might need to block those shut again, so he doesn't graze all day.
My boy turns 2 in a month, can you believe it??
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