I am looking to start school in July sometime and I am still trying to collect all my school books for next year.
I won an ebay auction last night and finally got Megan's new math book for $8.
I have another auction that is up in 3 days for a part of Courtney's math curriculum.
I need to find a set of Megan's English tests on ebay yet.
I ordered about 14 books for our Sonlight history and science around a month ago and I am still waiting on two in the mail. One company had given my money back because it was going to be so late, the other book was out of stock. I don't need either of these right away, so it's ok.
Other than these, I think we are ready to go! I have a new schedule made out and I have all our Sonlight curriculum in binders, so it's much easier to use when I need it. I have started reading our history books and I think Megan is going to love them! We are studying American history from 1850 to present this year. 30 more chapter books- here we come!
Besides getting our curriculum ready, I bought another bookshelf the other day and need to get that put together in my sitting room. I would LOVE to set up a little reading section in there, but I may not get there. (Because if I do that, I want to paint the walls, get a smaller computer desk, etc.)
I will keep plugging away at getting things ready, I'm excited for a newschool year to start! (Even though I am thoroughly enjoying my break!)
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Saturday, June 29, 2013
Kind of irritated right now :(
I have been wearing my glasses for the last month due to having GPC in my right eye. The eye doctor said that this is an immune reaction to my silicone hydrogel contact lenses. She also said that it gets worse during allergy season (I don't have any allergies). Her recommendation was to wear my glasses until it clears up and then my only option was daily wear lenses at $500 a year.
I went in three times to check on my GPC and this is what she has said every. single. time.
After coming home and talking to matt about it, it seemed my only option was to get a nice pair of glasses and just be done with contacts. Even with insurance and a mail in rebate, it was still going to be around $350 a year for contacts. A dollar a day to throw them away!
Because of this, I made an appointment to get an eye exam today to get a new prescription so I could get that new pair of glasses. She went on again how my GPC is from my contacts and daily contacts would be my best bet, but then out of the blue she said, "Well, there these other monthly contacts that would work too. They are made out of a different kind of material that they used to use in the past, they wouldn't bother your eyes. We can go ahead and order you a trial pair and see if you like them. How does that sound?" Seriously?? I am shocked! Why did it take her on the 4th visit to finally tell me this???
I asked her how much they would cost, "They would be quite a bit cheaper than daily contacts, probably even cheaper than the ones you are in now." Why didn't she ever say this before??
I said to order a trial pair and I will try them. I would love to get back into contacts!
So now I am going to wait on getting that new pair of glasses!! My prescription didn't change at all and if I can get back into contacts, I definitely will. The guy there was trying to sell me a clearance pair of glasses and then a pair of prescription sunglasses. Now why would I need these if I get back into contacts?
Talk about frustrating!!
(I seriously think these doctors are supposed to try get you to buy daily wear contacts (most expensive), the most expensive solutions and the most expensive eye drops!! I'm not falling for your tricks!! I am too cheap!)
I went in three times to check on my GPC and this is what she has said every. single. time.
After coming home and talking to matt about it, it seemed my only option was to get a nice pair of glasses and just be done with contacts. Even with insurance and a mail in rebate, it was still going to be around $350 a year for contacts. A dollar a day to throw them away!
Because of this, I made an appointment to get an eye exam today to get a new prescription so I could get that new pair of glasses. She went on again how my GPC is from my contacts and daily contacts would be my best bet, but then out of the blue she said, "Well, there these other monthly contacts that would work too. They are made out of a different kind of material that they used to use in the past, they wouldn't bother your eyes. We can go ahead and order you a trial pair and see if you like them. How does that sound?" Seriously?? I am shocked! Why did it take her on the 4th visit to finally tell me this???
I asked her how much they would cost, "They would be quite a bit cheaper than daily contacts, probably even cheaper than the ones you are in now." Why didn't she ever say this before??
I said to order a trial pair and I will try them. I would love to get back into contacts!
So now I am going to wait on getting that new pair of glasses!! My prescription didn't change at all and if I can get back into contacts, I definitely will. The guy there was trying to sell me a clearance pair of glasses and then a pair of prescription sunglasses. Now why would I need these if I get back into contacts?
Talk about frustrating!!
(I seriously think these doctors are supposed to try get you to buy daily wear contacts (most expensive), the most expensive solutions and the most expensive eye drops!! I'm not falling for your tricks!! I am too cheap!)
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Good-bye ants!!!
This morning, Courtney noticed a few ants crawling along a wall in the kitchen. She followed them with her eyes and saw that they were all coming from a pile of food in the corner. I looked at her and said, "Courtney, have you been feeding the ants again?" She said no.
So of course, Courtney loves this! She is super-excited that there are ants in our house and right away she says, "Mom, can I go get some houses for them?" (You know those "houses" that are really poisonous, but you can't tell your ant-lover daughter that!) I said, "Sure you can," so she runs to where they are stored and gets about 10 of them. She proudly puts them down on the floor and is so proud of her ants and their new houses.
Then she notices a dead ant in one of them and her tone changes. She looked at me and said, "Mom, there is a dead ant in one of them..have you been lying to me?" with a very serious look.
I didn't know what to say. I came up with, "Well, I haven't exactly lied to you, just haven't told you the whole truth." She was heart-broken. She picked those houses up super-fast and tried to save all the ants that were crawling on them! She was pleading with them to get out of the houses!
About 15 minutes later, Matt came up and I showed him the corner and all the ants. He didn't feel too sorry for them because he went and got bug spray and sprayed them all. Courtney went running upstairs in tears!!! Now we have a bunch of dead ants on our floor- time to clean them up and all the food that goes with them!
So of course, Courtney loves this! She is super-excited that there are ants in our house and right away she says, "Mom, can I go get some houses for them?" (You know those "houses" that are really poisonous, but you can't tell your ant-lover daughter that!) I said, "Sure you can," so she runs to where they are stored and gets about 10 of them. She proudly puts them down on the floor and is so proud of her ants and their new houses.
Then she notices a dead ant in one of them and her tone changes. She looked at me and said, "Mom, there is a dead ant in one of them..have you been lying to me?" with a very serious look.
I didn't know what to say. I came up with, "Well, I haven't exactly lied to you, just haven't told you the whole truth." She was heart-broken. She picked those houses up super-fast and tried to save all the ants that were crawling on them! She was pleading with them to get out of the houses!
About 15 minutes later, Matt came up and I showed him the corner and all the ants. He didn't feel too sorry for them because he went and got bug spray and sprayed them all. Courtney went running upstairs in tears!!! Now we have a bunch of dead ants on our floor- time to clean them up and all the food that goes with them!
Captain Obvious
Christian came into this morning at 7:15, I was half awake.
He said to me, "You're sleeping, I'm awake."
Yes Christian, and mommy wants to keep sleeping so go BACK to your room and play for awhile until it's time to get up. :) (or until mommy feels like getting up!)
He said to me, "You're sleeping, I'm awake."
Yes Christian, and mommy wants to keep sleeping so go BACK to your room and play for awhile until it's time to get up. :) (or until mommy feels like getting up!)
Monday, June 24, 2013
Chili in June?
After the cold weather lately and the fun storm this morning, my kids requested chili for supper.
I agreed.
We ate it outside on the patio table tonight.
Who else eats chili outside in June???
I agreed.
We ate it outside on the patio table tonight.
Who else eats chili outside in June???
Post-Camping Thoughts!
We survived our first camping trip in our new trailer. We went to Two Rivers State Park with a couple of other families and I will say it was a success! (Now I am so tired and have plenty of laundry to do!)
But as we were camping, we got to look and really evaluate our camper.
Here are the things I super-like about it:
1. The bathroom has a door to the outside.
A. When we are playing on the beach, we won't have to drag sand through the entire camper just to go to the bathroom.
B. When we are travelling, we will not need to put the slide out "out" just to go to the bathroom. This was always a problem in our other trailer, somebody could always come along and hit the slide out if you weren't careful where you parked.
The downside is that our bathroom does not have a lock on it- who doesn't put a lock on the bathroom door?? But I guess people were locking themselves out, I really think Matt should change the knob and put a lock on!
2. I LOVE the bunkhouse!!! Can I say this enough?? We have a camper with two separate bunkbeds and the room has a door of its own! I don't think I saw our kids half the weekend...along with the kids of the other family we were with. At times, there were 7 kids in that room!! The best part is that the kids' mess stayed IN that room. Toys were not all over the camper floor, the table was not full of art projects, it all was in that room!!
Matt's favorite part of the bunkhouse was that there were curtains on the windows and not shades, the kids were always messing up the shades by their beds in the old camper.
3. I love the wrap-around table. We can fit up to 6 people around our table!
4. My massive bedroom! Our bedroom is huge, there is actually room to walk around and get dressed! It is so big because our bed is a slide-out. There is also storage against one whole wall. We have 9 drawers and a huge closet with sliding mirror doors plus storage above and under our bed. There is so much storage, we don't know what to do with it!
5. We have a TV that mounts on the wall (and swivels) and an entertainment system that includes speakers (inside and out), a built in DVD player, plus much more. I loved listening to music outside!
There are also many things outside the trailer that Matt really likes- the electric stabilizers, the electric jacks, the electric hitch, he said it was almost too easy. :)
Things I do not like:
1. I wish there was more counter space, but I guess I can deal with that.
2. Matt couldn't figure out how to open the stove vent this weekend. There was actually a family with another Rockwood camper two spots away and they came over and asked Matt if he knew how to open their vent because they couldn't get theirs open either!
3. We also have a place where you can put a grill on the camper, but Matt couldn't figure that out either.
4. In the bunkhouse, there is a door to the outside. You can open this door, push up a bed, and store your bikes in there. Unfortunately, kids can very easily open this door and fall out if you do not lock it from the outside.
5. It rained and rained on Friday and Saturday night and since we sleep in a slide out, I felt the rain was coming down right on my head and it was very LOUD! I guess it's something I will have to deal with!
6.. I like about everything else. :)
The only thing we need to do yet is get bed railings. On Friday night, Christian fell out of bed (from the bottom bunk) and Saturday night, Megan fell out of bed (from the top bunk.) Luckily, we had a couple extra pillows come with the camper, so I had put those on the floor incase this would happen, so no children got hurt. We need to figure out something!
Since our camper is so nice, I feel like I don't want to get it dirty. I wanted to keep everything clean and wiped down this weekend. It didn't always happen, but I would have liked it to happen.
Now we have the trouble of storage. Since we have been broken into once, we know that it will probably happen again. We are going to empty EVERYTHING out of our camper and store all of it in our garage. We are going to keep the camper at our outdoor storage site until we come up with a better plan. I think Matt is going to rig up a security system and leave the door unlocked. He was even thinking about putting a sign on the door that said, "All electrical devices have been removed, please feel free to look around, but there is nothing worth anything left in the camper." It will be such a pain to unload and reload everything when we want to go camping, but we cannot think of a better option at this point.
But as we were camping, we got to look and really evaluate our camper.
Here are the things I super-like about it:
1. The bathroom has a door to the outside.
A. When we are playing on the beach, we won't have to drag sand through the entire camper just to go to the bathroom.
B. When we are travelling, we will not need to put the slide out "out" just to go to the bathroom. This was always a problem in our other trailer, somebody could always come along and hit the slide out if you weren't careful where you parked.
The downside is that our bathroom does not have a lock on it- who doesn't put a lock on the bathroom door?? But I guess people were locking themselves out, I really think Matt should change the knob and put a lock on!
2. I LOVE the bunkhouse!!! Can I say this enough?? We have a camper with two separate bunkbeds and the room has a door of its own! I don't think I saw our kids half the weekend...along with the kids of the other family we were with. At times, there were 7 kids in that room!! The best part is that the kids' mess stayed IN that room. Toys were not all over the camper floor, the table was not full of art projects, it all was in that room!!
Matt's favorite part of the bunkhouse was that there were curtains on the windows and not shades, the kids were always messing up the shades by their beds in the old camper.
3. I love the wrap-around table. We can fit up to 6 people around our table!
4. My massive bedroom! Our bedroom is huge, there is actually room to walk around and get dressed! It is so big because our bed is a slide-out. There is also storage against one whole wall. We have 9 drawers and a huge closet with sliding mirror doors plus storage above and under our bed. There is so much storage, we don't know what to do with it!
5. We have a TV that mounts on the wall (and swivels) and an entertainment system that includes speakers (inside and out), a built in DVD player, plus much more. I loved listening to music outside!
There are also many things outside the trailer that Matt really likes- the electric stabilizers, the electric jacks, the electric hitch, he said it was almost too easy. :)
Things I do not like:
1. I wish there was more counter space, but I guess I can deal with that.
2. Matt couldn't figure out how to open the stove vent this weekend. There was actually a family with another Rockwood camper two spots away and they came over and asked Matt if he knew how to open their vent because they couldn't get theirs open either!
3. We also have a place where you can put a grill on the camper, but Matt couldn't figure that out either.
4. In the bunkhouse, there is a door to the outside. You can open this door, push up a bed, and store your bikes in there. Unfortunately, kids can very easily open this door and fall out if you do not lock it from the outside.
5. It rained and rained on Friday and Saturday night and since we sleep in a slide out, I felt the rain was coming down right on my head and it was very LOUD! I guess it's something I will have to deal with!
6.. I like about everything else. :)
The only thing we need to do yet is get bed railings. On Friday night, Christian fell out of bed (from the bottom bunk) and Saturday night, Megan fell out of bed (from the top bunk.) Luckily, we had a couple extra pillows come with the camper, so I had put those on the floor incase this would happen, so no children got hurt. We need to figure out something!
Since our camper is so nice, I feel like I don't want to get it dirty. I wanted to keep everything clean and wiped down this weekend. It didn't always happen, but I would have liked it to happen.
Now we have the trouble of storage. Since we have been broken into once, we know that it will probably happen again. We are going to empty EVERYTHING out of our camper and store all of it in our garage. We are going to keep the camper at our outdoor storage site until we come up with a better plan. I think Matt is going to rig up a security system and leave the door unlocked. He was even thinking about putting a sign on the door that said, "All electrical devices have been removed, please feel free to look around, but there is nothing worth anything left in the camper." It will be such a pain to unload and reload everything when we want to go camping, but we cannot think of a better option at this point.
Friday, June 21, 2013
Eye Doctor Visit
Yesterday I took us three girls to the eye doctor.
Megan and Courtney had a full eye exam and I got a recheck on my GPC.
Megan- She is starting to get near-sighted and astigmatism in her left eye, but it's not bad enough to warrant glasses. The doctor said that probably by this time next year, she will need them. I thought this was pretty funny because I am near-sighted and have astigmatism in my left eye! I told the doctor this and she said that kids usually take after their parents with their vision.
Courtney- No problems at all. She can see 20/15.
Myself- My GPC is all gone from under my eyelids, so I got the ok to go back to contacts, but not my monthly ones, only daily wears that cost $500 a year!!! She gave me a week's worth of samples, but I need to wear them only a little bit each day. I also need to keep putting allergy drops in my eyes twice a day to prevent them from coming back.
She also said that she usually sees GPC in the fall and spring when allergies are so high, so she assumed I had a lot of environmental allergies. I said I didn't at all, only food sensitivities. She had this odd look on her face, I wonder if my food sensitivities caused this all? I know it's a stretch. She said the GPC (reactive bumps under my eye lids) is usually caused by rubbing against my contact lenses and that seasonal allergies make it worse, so this is why she doesn't want me wearing my monthly contacts anymore. She said I could probably get by with them though in the winter months. Interesting, huh? I might just purchase a nice pair of glasses and be done with contacts!
Megan and Courtney had a full eye exam and I got a recheck on my GPC.
Megan- She is starting to get near-sighted and astigmatism in her left eye, but it's not bad enough to warrant glasses. The doctor said that probably by this time next year, she will need them. I thought this was pretty funny because I am near-sighted and have astigmatism in my left eye! I told the doctor this and she said that kids usually take after their parents with their vision.
Courtney- No problems at all. She can see 20/15.
Myself- My GPC is all gone from under my eyelids, so I got the ok to go back to contacts, but not my monthly ones, only daily wears that cost $500 a year!!! She gave me a week's worth of samples, but I need to wear them only a little bit each day. I also need to keep putting allergy drops in my eyes twice a day to prevent them from coming back.
She also said that she usually sees GPC in the fall and spring when allergies are so high, so she assumed I had a lot of environmental allergies. I said I didn't at all, only food sensitivities. She had this odd look on her face, I wonder if my food sensitivities caused this all? I know it's a stretch. She said the GPC (reactive bumps under my eye lids) is usually caused by rubbing against my contact lenses and that seasonal allergies make it worse, so this is why she doesn't want me wearing my monthly contacts anymore. She said I could probably get by with them though in the winter months. Interesting, huh? I might just purchase a nice pair of glasses and be done with contacts!
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
New Camper!
Our new camper is in our driveway- now to pack it up and go camping this weekend!
While we were at Leach Camper Sales tonight, Christian was not being very good, so I had found a "naughty spot" for him and put him there. When his time was up, I asked him why he was in "time-out" and he looked at me for a little bit and then said, "I can't spit it out," meaning he couldn't tell me.
He has been repeating a lot of words lately, so we always say to him, "Come on, just spit it out," so he had turned my own words and used them to his advantage. Smart Christian!
While we were at Leach Camper Sales tonight, Christian was not being very good, so I had found a "naughty spot" for him and put him there. When his time was up, I asked him why he was in "time-out" and he looked at me for a little bit and then said, "I can't spit it out," meaning he couldn't tell me.
He has been repeating a lot of words lately, so we always say to him, "Come on, just spit it out," so he had turned my own words and used them to his advantage. Smart Christian!
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Next on the Agenda...
The last few weeks have been super busy, I have...
1. Finished teaching a 3rd grader and a kindergartener.
2. Celebrated the end of dance with a recital.
3. Attended a homeschool conference
4. Went to Adventureland/ Des Moines for 4 days.
5. Celebrated my 3 year olds birthday on his actual birthday
6. Gave my 3 year old a birthday party
7. Sold our old camper and picked out a new one
Next on the agenda:
1. Put school away from last year (I kid you not, I have not emptied out my "lesson plan" binder yet!)
2. Organize my office space!! I have school books all over the floor, next year's curriculum on my desk that needs a binder, books that need to be sold, school papers all over my desk, and an overall mess going on!!!)
3. Get school stuff ready for next year (copy science activity sheets, order some things for Courtney, order Megan a math book, figure out our schedule, etc.) I kind of wanted to get school started in July, so I have a couple of weeks to get this done.
Not school related:
5. Put containers of clothes back in attic.
6. Schedule 3 year pictures for Christian.
7. Write Christian's thank-you's from his party.
8. Take myself and two girls to eye doctor on Thursday. I have been dealing with GPC and wearing my glasses for the last two weeks, I want to get this all cleared up and back to my contacts, if I can. The girls are just getting an eye exam. I was about Megan's age when I started wearing glasses, so I want to get her in on a yearly basis.
9. Clean the house from Christian's party
Did I mention that we are going camping this weekend? Along with getting a new camper, I think Thursday and Friday are going to be set to getting the new camper ready to go.
Next week is pretty open and so is the following week. I think we are going camping the weekend of the 4th of July, so that will take some time to get ready for again.
Megan is also starting a summer dance class on July 8th that will run for five weeks.
I think it will be August before we know it! Oh, doesn't Courtney celebrate a birthday in August? I should probably start thinking about her party too!
1. Finished teaching a 3rd grader and a kindergartener.
2. Celebrated the end of dance with a recital.
3. Attended a homeschool conference
4. Went to Adventureland/ Des Moines for 4 days.
5. Celebrated my 3 year olds birthday on his actual birthday
6. Gave my 3 year old a birthday party
7. Sold our old camper and picked out a new one
Next on the agenda:
1. Put school away from last year (I kid you not, I have not emptied out my "lesson plan" binder yet!)
2. Organize my office space!! I have school books all over the floor, next year's curriculum on my desk that needs a binder, books that need to be sold, school papers all over my desk, and an overall mess going on!!!)
3. Get school stuff ready for next year (copy science activity sheets, order some things for Courtney, order Megan a math book, figure out our schedule, etc.) I kind of wanted to get school started in July, so I have a couple of weeks to get this done.
Not school related:
5. Put containers of clothes back in attic.
6. Schedule 3 year pictures for Christian.
7. Write Christian's thank-you's from his party.
8. Take myself and two girls to eye doctor on Thursday. I have been dealing with GPC and wearing my glasses for the last two weeks, I want to get this all cleared up and back to my contacts, if I can. The girls are just getting an eye exam. I was about Megan's age when I started wearing glasses, so I want to get her in on a yearly basis.
9. Clean the house from Christian's party
Did I mention that we are going camping this weekend? Along with getting a new camper, I think Thursday and Friday are going to be set to getting the new camper ready to go.
Next week is pretty open and so is the following week. I think we are going camping the weekend of the 4th of July, so that will take some time to get ready for again.
Megan is also starting a summer dance class on July 8th that will run for five weeks.
I think it will be August before we know it! Oh, doesn't Courtney celebrate a birthday in August? I should probably start thinking about her party too!
It is official!
We got our homeschooling papers back from the State of Nebraska today and we are officially homeschooling again next year!!!
Monday, June 17, 2013
Sleepy children!
You know what happens when you are super busy over the weekend? The Kids sleep in until 8:30!!
Christian actually fell asleep on the way home from our family get-together at 7:30 last night and he woke up around 8 this morning. I hope he feels well rested!
Here's to another busy week!
Christian actually fell asleep on the way home from our family get-together at 7:30 last night and he woke up around 8 this morning. I hope he feels well rested!
Here's to another busy week!
Saturday, June 15, 2013
Birthday party was a success and good-bye to the camper.
We celebrated Christian's 3rd birthday party last night with all his friends and family!
I felt bad putting it on a Friday night, but I really didn't have an option this year, but despite that, we still had a great turnout! Many people left when it started to storm, so I hope everyone got home safe.
Christian was super-excited all day for his party and that was all he talked about! He loves all his new presents and he super-loved his cake. I will definitely post pictures.
In the middle of trying to host a party for 40 people, Matt was working on getting not only our camper sold, but also an extra jetski trailer we have here. Every time I turned around, he was texting the two perspective owners back and forth. Poor guy! I know he just wants these two things sold and it is going to happen today. Matt will be delivering the jetski trailer and the camper to their respective new owners this morning!
I am sure going to miss our old camper, we had a lot of fun in there! I still remembering buying it when Courtney was about 11 months old. I remember her "scooting" around on the floor and into the bunks. We made a trip to St. Lous, two trips to Memphis, TN, a trip to Colorado, one trip around Iowa (Des Moines, Fort Dodge, Okoboji), and a trip last week to Des Moines. We made many trips to Fremont along with camping at Branched Oak and Mahoney. We got plenty of use out of it!!! (And between insurance money and the sale of it today, we are going to get back exactly what we paid for it 6 years ago! What a deal!)
The camper has been such a good investment in family time. I don't think we would be doing all these trips and spending so much time for a family if we didn't have it. We both value family time and it has been great for that! When we went to go look at new ones, he says he doesn't mind spending a little bit more because it has been such a great investment for our family! I love the way he thinks!!!
I think we are going to be picking up our new camper Wednesday. We emptied out our old one out this morning and just put everything in the garage, this way we can load the new one up Thursday and go camping on Friday!
I felt bad putting it on a Friday night, but I really didn't have an option this year, but despite that, we still had a great turnout! Many people left when it started to storm, so I hope everyone got home safe.
Christian was super-excited all day for his party and that was all he talked about! He loves all his new presents and he super-loved his cake. I will definitely post pictures.
In the middle of trying to host a party for 40 people, Matt was working on getting not only our camper sold, but also an extra jetski trailer we have here. Every time I turned around, he was texting the two perspective owners back and forth. Poor guy! I know he just wants these two things sold and it is going to happen today. Matt will be delivering the jetski trailer and the camper to their respective new owners this morning!
I am sure going to miss our old camper, we had a lot of fun in there! I still remembering buying it when Courtney was about 11 months old. I remember her "scooting" around on the floor and into the bunks. We made a trip to St. Lous, two trips to Memphis, TN, a trip to Colorado, one trip around Iowa (Des Moines, Fort Dodge, Okoboji), and a trip last week to Des Moines. We made many trips to Fremont along with camping at Branched Oak and Mahoney. We got plenty of use out of it!!! (And between insurance money and the sale of it today, we are going to get back exactly what we paid for it 6 years ago! What a deal!)
The camper has been such a good investment in family time. I don't think we would be doing all these trips and spending so much time for a family if we didn't have it. We both value family time and it has been great for that! When we went to go look at new ones, he says he doesn't mind spending a little bit more because it has been such a great investment for our family! I love the way he thinks!!!
I think we are going to be picking up our new camper Wednesday. We emptied out our old one out this morning and just put everything in the garage, this way we can load the new one up Thursday and go camping on Friday!
Thursday, June 13, 2013
New Camper! (Or "tamper" as Christian says)
In April, our camper got totaled out in the hail storm. There was hail damage on all four sides and the insurance decided that it would cost more to fix it then it was worth, so they paid us out for our damages. We decided to buy the camper back from them and then sell it on our own. Good plan, right? Most definitely.
So in the meantime, we have been searching for a new camper. Between the insurance money and some of our own thrown in there, we decided that we can get a pretty good one. Our first intention was to get a new-used one, you know, one that is really new and nice yet, but yet a couple of years old. We also want a camper with a bunkhouse, less than 8000 pounds, and fiberglass siding.
We started searching online and going to camper dealerships and soon realized that this wasn't going to work out like we thought. We didn't find any slightly used campers with our specifications, so we started looking in the" new" department.
Tonight we finally settled on a camper. It is 2013 Rockwood Windjammer 3006W. It has fiberglass siding, bunks, and weighs just a little bit more than our old camper. I think it will work out great! It has two slide-outs and a door from the outside right into the bathroom. It has plenty of storage and the kids seem to love it. It is a lot nice than our other one!
Now to get our other one sold because until then we have two campers. :)
I don't think we will be able to pick it up until next Wednesday and we are going camping on Friday!!
So in the meantime, we have been searching for a new camper. Between the insurance money and some of our own thrown in there, we decided that we can get a pretty good one. Our first intention was to get a new-used one, you know, one that is really new and nice yet, but yet a couple of years old. We also want a camper with a bunkhouse, less than 8000 pounds, and fiberglass siding.
We started searching online and going to camper dealerships and soon realized that this wasn't going to work out like we thought. We didn't find any slightly used campers with our specifications, so we started looking in the" new" department.
Tonight we finally settled on a camper. It is 2013 Rockwood Windjammer 3006W. It has fiberglass siding, bunks, and weighs just a little bit more than our old camper. I think it will work out great! It has two slide-outs and a door from the outside right into the bathroom. It has plenty of storage and the kids seem to love it. It is a lot nice than our other one!
Now to get our other one sold because until then we have two campers. :)
I don't think we will be able to pick it up until next Wednesday and we are going camping on Friday!!
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
We did it!
June 10th is a busy day in our house.
It is our anniversary and Christian's birthday.
It really bothers me that we share the day and I struggle all year with how to celebrate both. Why couldn't he have been born the day before or the day after?? (You know when your water breaks at 2:30 am and there is that silly 24 hour rule, there was no way around it at the time!)
I think we celebrated both this year and it worked out great!
We went out for lunch for Christian's birthday and took him shopping for his own presents (terrible, I know!)
Then in the evening, grandma watched our kids while Matt and I went out for dinner and camper shopping.
I felt good at the end of the day. I felt both occasions were celebrated appropriately and I didn't feel like I lost my day to a 3 year old!
Of course, his birthday party is Friday night, so he will get to celebrate some more!
It is our anniversary and Christian's birthday.
It really bothers me that we share the day and I struggle all year with how to celebrate both. Why couldn't he have been born the day before or the day after?? (You know when your water breaks at 2:30 am and there is that silly 24 hour rule, there was no way around it at the time!)
I think we celebrated both this year and it worked out great!
We went out for lunch for Christian's birthday and took him shopping for his own presents (terrible, I know!)
Then in the evening, grandma watched our kids while Matt and I went out for dinner and camper shopping.
I felt good at the end of the day. I felt both occasions were celebrated appropriately and I didn't feel like I lost my day to a 3 year old!
Of course, his birthday party is Friday night, so he will get to celebrate some more!
Megan and Rachel
Morningstar Ballet Dance Recital
May 31st, 2013
Ok, Megan, next time I want to take a cute picture with your friend, stand up straight, ok?? :)
It is still pretty cute!!
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
High Trestle Trail in Des Moines, IA
Last week as we were heading home from Des Moines, we decided to go out of our way to check out the High Trestle Trail north of Des Moines, Iowa. A friend of the family had told us it was pretty neat, so we wanted to see it ourselves. The High Trestle Trail is 25 miles long, but on the trail between Madrid and Woodward, there is a half mile bridge that makes up the trail and it takes you over the Des Moines River.
Here the girls are getting started. We parked about a mile away from the bridge.
Approaching the bridge:
The bridge over the Des Moines River. It is supposed to look like you were inside a mine since a lot of coal mining was done in the area.
The view from the other side.
Learning about the history of the bridge:
Somebody who was not having F-U-N at the time!
We only biked beyond the bridge for about a mile, then we turned around and headed back to the truck. We are glad we did because about five minutes later, it decided to rain!
2 1/2 hours later we were home!
Here the girls are getting started. We parked about a mile away from the bridge.
Approaching the bridge:
The bridge over the Des Moines River. It is supposed to look like you were inside a mine since a lot of coal mining was done in the area.
The view from the other side.
Learning about the history of the bridge:
Somebody who was not having F-U-N at the time!
2 1/2 hours later we were home!
Food!
We are gradually getting back on our restricted foods lately.
We had Christian allergy tested and he is not allergic to anything he has been off of for the last year. I think he was allergic to all these at one point and since he was off them so long, he healed and now he is allergic to other things. Anyway, I have slowly been giving him his restricted foods and he is doing well.
Courtney is doing a lot better too. She is back on wheat, yeast, milk, soy, egg, and a couple of others. I have not let her have peanut butter yet, that was her highest number! I am also very aware of what she is eating everyday.
As for myself, my doctor recommended that I start going back on my foods too and I have been trying to get my restricted foods back into my diet. I have not had much problem either.
With all this said, it has been very easy to get back to our old habits. One such habit is eating something made of wheat at every meal. Between cereal, bread, buns, crackers, etc., it seems that we can eat wheat non-stop. I have been very vigilant about the wheat and have been restricting my children and myself to one wheat product a day.
Milk has not been an issue because we rarely eat anything made out of milk and Courtney actually likes the rice milk better on her cereal! I would really like to get cheese back in, but I really don't want to buy the processed cheese again. I need some tips on what to buy.
Even though we are back on wheat and it is very tempting to make baked goods out of wheat flour, I am going to continue to use oatmeal and my other gluten free flours. Right now, I am making banana muffins out of gluten free flour and I even used flax seed instead of eggs. My children could've ate the entire bowl of batter if I would have let them!! Even Megan!
Through all of this, I have learned that we cannot get "stuck in a rut" when it comes to food. It is very important to rotate food and not eat the same things day after day. We are all finally feeling good again, I don't want to mess this up!
We had Christian allergy tested and he is not allergic to anything he has been off of for the last year. I think he was allergic to all these at one point and since he was off them so long, he healed and now he is allergic to other things. Anyway, I have slowly been giving him his restricted foods and he is doing well.
Courtney is doing a lot better too. She is back on wheat, yeast, milk, soy, egg, and a couple of others. I have not let her have peanut butter yet, that was her highest number! I am also very aware of what she is eating everyday.
As for myself, my doctor recommended that I start going back on my foods too and I have been trying to get my restricted foods back into my diet. I have not had much problem either.
With all this said, it has been very easy to get back to our old habits. One such habit is eating something made of wheat at every meal. Between cereal, bread, buns, crackers, etc., it seems that we can eat wheat non-stop. I have been very vigilant about the wheat and have been restricting my children and myself to one wheat product a day.
Milk has not been an issue because we rarely eat anything made out of milk and Courtney actually likes the rice milk better on her cereal! I would really like to get cheese back in, but I really don't want to buy the processed cheese again. I need some tips on what to buy.
Even though we are back on wheat and it is very tempting to make baked goods out of wheat flour, I am going to continue to use oatmeal and my other gluten free flours. Right now, I am making banana muffins out of gluten free flour and I even used flax seed instead of eggs. My children could've ate the entire bowl of batter if I would have let them!! Even Megan!
Through all of this, I have learned that we cannot get "stuck in a rut" when it comes to food. It is very important to rotate food and not eat the same things day after day. We are all finally feeling good again, I don't want to mess this up!
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Where did our pillow cases go??
While we were on vacation this last week, Matt and I went to make our bed and figured out that we were missing two pillow cases. I had all the sheets and blankets in the house and I washed everything up before I left and I assumed everything was together.
Today when Matt was cleaning out the camper, he told me that he thinks he knows where those two pillow cases went. They were stolen.
When these "burglars" got into our camper over the winter, he thinks they put everything they wanted to steal INTO our two pillow cases and hauled their loot out the door (or the window in our case)!!! Wouldn't a pillow case make a nice bag for a couple of extension cords, a real nice TV and DVD player??? Yah, I thought so too...
Today when Matt was cleaning out the camper, he told me that he thinks he knows where those two pillow cases went. They were stolen.
When these "burglars" got into our camper over the winter, he thinks they put everything they wanted to steal INTO our two pillow cases and hauled their loot out the door (or the window in our case)!!! Wouldn't a pillow case make a nice bag for a couple of extension cords, a real nice TV and DVD player??? Yah, I thought so too...
Back from Vacation!
We spent the last four days in Des Moines, Iowa on vacation. We went with some other homeschooling friends and we spent two whole days at Adventureland. We got half price tickets through a homeschooling parent here in Nebraska. :) Two days for the price of one!
I am not a huge ride fan, but apparently everybody else in my family is! Courtney and Megan did most of the roller coasters and the "spinny" rides. Courtney did so many at one time that she wasn't looking too good for awhile! Christian did all the little rides that he could and even rode some of the bigger ones with Matt. As for me, I like to keep my feet on the ground and not spin in circles! I did the bumper cars and the skyfari, but that was about it! I was glad to keep track of Christian!
It was a little cool while we were there, so often times, there were no lines. The attendant would often say, "Do you want to ride again?" Sometimes Christian and the girls rode the same ride 3 or 4 times in a row.
We were also planning to go to the water park that is attached to Adventureland, but since it was cool and cloudy, we didn't go. We spent most of the afternoon in the second day watching shows. We watched the circus and a magician. They were pretty neat!
We were going to stay another night, but then we saw there was a 90% chance of rain for Saturday evening and during the day on Sunday, so we just came home a day early.
On our way home though, we stopped for a bike ride. We drove about 10 miles north of Des Moines to a town called Madrid and got on the High Trestle Trail. We had some friends tell us about this, so we wanted to see what it was all about it. This trail is along an old railroad track line and there is a 1/2 mile bridge that you ride over. It was pretty neat!
After this, we loaded our bikes up and headed home. We were home by 6 pm last night and unloaded the camper between the rain. I think we only have a little bit to clean out yet today.
Next on our summer agenda: Christian's birthday party on Friday night!!
I am not a huge ride fan, but apparently everybody else in my family is! Courtney and Megan did most of the roller coasters and the "spinny" rides. Courtney did so many at one time that she wasn't looking too good for awhile! Christian did all the little rides that he could and even rode some of the bigger ones with Matt. As for me, I like to keep my feet on the ground and not spin in circles! I did the bumper cars and the skyfari, but that was about it! I was glad to keep track of Christian!
It was a little cool while we were there, so often times, there were no lines. The attendant would often say, "Do you want to ride again?" Sometimes Christian and the girls rode the same ride 3 or 4 times in a row.
We were also planning to go to the water park that is attached to Adventureland, but since it was cool and cloudy, we didn't go. We spent most of the afternoon in the second day watching shows. We watched the circus and a magician. They were pretty neat!
We were going to stay another night, but then we saw there was a 90% chance of rain for Saturday evening and during the day on Sunday, so we just came home a day early.
On our way home though, we stopped for a bike ride. We drove about 10 miles north of Des Moines to a town called Madrid and got on the High Trestle Trail. We had some friends tell us about this, so we wanted to see what it was all about it. This trail is along an old railroad track line and there is a 1/2 mile bridge that you ride over. It was pretty neat!
After this, we loaded our bikes up and headed home. We were home by 6 pm last night and unloaded the camper between the rain. I think we only have a little bit to clean out yet today.
Next on our summer agenda: Christian's birthday party on Friday night!!
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
I love hail--- HA!
After finding out a couple of weeks ago that our camper was totalled by the hail, we now know we need a new roof, gutters, and all accessories on our house! Yikes!
Matt was not really concerned with our roof right after the hail storm, but lately, we have seen a lot of roofing companies in our neighborhood and many signs going up in front of houses. We had a guy stop by last night from a certain company (he just saw matt outside and walked up to the house). He inspected our house and said we had damage. Matt got on the roof and looked at the wood shake shingles and this guy showed him how they were split. We also walked around and saw all the paint chipped around the windows and dents in our gutters. Yep, plenty of damage on our house! Here comes a new roof, new gutters, and some new paint!
So now we get to call insurance back up- I'm sure glad they know us there!
PS We are getting the camper out for our first camping trip this season and Matt is finding even more stuff missing from when it was broken into! Like our weather radio and another big extension cord. I would sure like to know where all our stuff is right now!
Matt was not really concerned with our roof right after the hail storm, but lately, we have seen a lot of roofing companies in our neighborhood and many signs going up in front of houses. We had a guy stop by last night from a certain company (he just saw matt outside and walked up to the house). He inspected our house and said we had damage. Matt got on the roof and looked at the wood shake shingles and this guy showed him how they were split. We also walked around and saw all the paint chipped around the windows and dents in our gutters. Yep, plenty of damage on our house! Here comes a new roof, new gutters, and some new paint!
So now we get to call insurance back up- I'm sure glad they know us there!
PS We are getting the camper out for our first camping trip this season and Matt is finding even more stuff missing from when it was broken into! Like our weather radio and another big extension cord. I would sure like to know where all our stuff is right now!
Monday, June 3, 2013
Operation: Rescue Baby Bird
Matt came upstairs from his office today about 8 am and said something was making quite a bit of noise in the window well right outside his office in the basement.
We all went outside and there was a bird stuck in the window well! Matt got some gloves on, picked it up, and put it in the grass. Then he headed off to work.
So you can probably guess who was the first kid out to see this bird?? Courtney of course!
She went right over to it and started talking to it in a real sweet voice and was encouraging it to fly away. We really didn't know the story behind the bird, but Courtney was determined that it was hungry. The bird would open its wings up, move about 6 inches, stop, and chirp some more. When Courtney got close, the bird would open it's mouth like Courtney was going to feed it.
Here was the conversation at that point.
Courtney: Mom, I think the bird is hungry. Let's get it something to eat. I know we have bird food inside.
Me: No, I don't think it eats bird food. I think it's still a baby bird.
C: Well, then it eats worms, right? I need a shovel. I will dig it a worm to eat.
Megan (who was standing about 10 feet away): No Courtney, you can't just feed a baby bird a worm. The mom eats the worm and then regurgitates it and gives it to the bird.
Me: Really Megan? I thought only penguins did that.
Megan: No, All birds do.
Courtney: I'm going to feed it a worm anyway. GET ME A SHOVEL!
Well, I didn't get her a shovel, but told her I would go inside and see what baby birds eat and what exactly we could do with this bird. We had to rescue it!!
I went inside and looked up "what do baby birds eat" and sure enough, Megan was right. Mama birds eat food and regurgitate it and feed it to their babies. YUK! The computer said to not feed baby birds anything, espcially not water or milk.
I then checked out "bird rescue" and came up with a few sights in Omaha. I was even going to call a place (for Courtney's sake) to see what to do with it and then I came upon some very useful information. It said that if you found a baby bird in your yard, just to leave it as long as it has it's feathers. The mama birds actually kick their offspring out of the nest to learn how to fly and they need to learn how to fly off the ground. It also said that the bird will probably act like it's hungry and that the mama bird is somewhere around. We were not supposed to interrupt this process.
I went outside and told Courtney, she felt better, but continued to watch the bird. By noon, the bird was still in the yard and I actually thought it wasn't looking too good. It didn't look like it was going to be able to fly and I thought for sure it was going to die in our yard and then I would have a very sad girl on my hands.
We went outside about an hour later to "check on the bird" and it was nowhere around! We couldn't fine it anywhere. Either 1. It got eaten by another animal. or 2. It actually learned to fly and was doing what it was supposed to!
I hope for number 2!!
Matt mowed the lawn tonight and I searched the yard again for the bird and told him to be careful, but neither one of us found anything! Hopefully the bird is back with its mama tonight!! We can only hope. :) At least that is what we will tell Courtney!!
We all went outside and there was a bird stuck in the window well! Matt got some gloves on, picked it up, and put it in the grass. Then he headed off to work.
So you can probably guess who was the first kid out to see this bird?? Courtney of course!
She went right over to it and started talking to it in a real sweet voice and was encouraging it to fly away. We really didn't know the story behind the bird, but Courtney was determined that it was hungry. The bird would open its wings up, move about 6 inches, stop, and chirp some more. When Courtney got close, the bird would open it's mouth like Courtney was going to feed it.
Here was the conversation at that point.
Courtney: Mom, I think the bird is hungry. Let's get it something to eat. I know we have bird food inside.
Me: No, I don't think it eats bird food. I think it's still a baby bird.
C: Well, then it eats worms, right? I need a shovel. I will dig it a worm to eat.
Megan (who was standing about 10 feet away): No Courtney, you can't just feed a baby bird a worm. The mom eats the worm and then regurgitates it and gives it to the bird.
Me: Really Megan? I thought only penguins did that.
Megan: No, All birds do.
Courtney: I'm going to feed it a worm anyway. GET ME A SHOVEL!
Well, I didn't get her a shovel, but told her I would go inside and see what baby birds eat and what exactly we could do with this bird. We had to rescue it!!
I went inside and looked up "what do baby birds eat" and sure enough, Megan was right. Mama birds eat food and regurgitate it and feed it to their babies. YUK! The computer said to not feed baby birds anything, espcially not water or milk.
I then checked out "bird rescue" and came up with a few sights in Omaha. I was even going to call a place (for Courtney's sake) to see what to do with it and then I came upon some very useful information. It said that if you found a baby bird in your yard, just to leave it as long as it has it's feathers. The mama birds actually kick their offspring out of the nest to learn how to fly and they need to learn how to fly off the ground. It also said that the bird will probably act like it's hungry and that the mama bird is somewhere around. We were not supposed to interrupt this process.
I went outside and told Courtney, she felt better, but continued to watch the bird. By noon, the bird was still in the yard and I actually thought it wasn't looking too good. It didn't look like it was going to be able to fly and I thought for sure it was going to die in our yard and then I would have a very sad girl on my hands.
We went outside about an hour later to "check on the bird" and it was nowhere around! We couldn't fine it anywhere. Either 1. It got eaten by another animal. or 2. It actually learned to fly and was doing what it was supposed to!
I hope for number 2!!
Matt mowed the lawn tonight and I searched the yard again for the bird and told him to be careful, but neither one of us found anything! Hopefully the bird is back with its mama tonight!! We can only hope. :) At least that is what we will tell Courtney!!
Saturday, June 1, 2013
Exhausted!
Anybody else thoroughly exhausted from this weekend yet? I AM!!!
In addition to homeschool conference all day plus dance recital last night, Christian decided to come down with bronchitis yet AGAIN and he got his fever last night during the recital. Bad timing son!
So because of that, we were up half the night dealing with "bronchitis boy" who refuses to take albuterol so he can breathe better. We might need to start bribing with candy. He is not a happy camper this morning.
I have another full day of conference plus Megan has another performance right in the middle of the day. (So I will leave the conference and come back again!)
Remind me not to do this again next year!!!
In addition to homeschool conference all day plus dance recital last night, Christian decided to come down with bronchitis yet AGAIN and he got his fever last night during the recital. Bad timing son!
So because of that, we were up half the night dealing with "bronchitis boy" who refuses to take albuterol so he can breathe better. We might need to start bribing with candy. He is not a happy camper this morning.
I have another full day of conference plus Megan has another performance right in the middle of the day. (So I will leave the conference and come back again!)
Remind me not to do this again next year!!!
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