Busy Day!

We are getting our new air conditioner today!!! YAY!!! Even though the company refilled our freon last week and the air is working great, it will probably stop here in a week or so! 

We are also packing today to go camping for the rest of the week!

I am going to get adjusted this morning and do a final few errands and then my mission is to get the camper packed by about 4 pm. Hopefully the air conditioner guys will be done by then and Matt will be able to finish up at work and then we can take off! 

New Muffin recipe

I have tried a lot of new foods in my house in the last six months. Some have worked and some have failed completely.  Some foods we eat for awhile and then my family refuses to eat them anymore.  I am kind of at a point now where I need to try some new things again. I feel I keep going back to the stand-bys and we aren't rotating our diets as much as I would like!

I have always wanted to cook with almond or coconut flour, but these are the recipes that don't work out as well as I would like (in other words, they fail!)  When you cook with coconut flour, you have to use a lot of eggs because the flour needs more moisture. Well, I still can't have real eggs and whenever I try to use my usual flaxseed replacement, they don't turn out.  I just haven't had any luck with almond flour at all!

But I will not give up! Here is a recipe for almond blueberry muffins and they do not need real eggs! It already has a replacement in the recipe. I might try these tomorrow morning for breakfast!!

http://www.damyhealth.com/2012/05/the-best-almond-flour-blueberry-muffins/

Trouble with Megan's math book.

I am having such a hard time getting a math book for Megan this year.  This is what I want:

Rod and Staff: Gaining Skill with Arithmetic 5 Student Textbook

But for some reason, getting this book in my possession and in good condition has been very troublesome!!

1.  I ordered it originally off of Amazon.com.  I waited and I waited and eventually I received an email from Amazon that said that the seller had not sent it yet, so I sent an email to the seller to see what was going on with the book.  The seller informed me that they no longer have the book and were going to refund my money.

2.  I ordered it again off of Amazon.com. This time I tracked the package and received it!  I opened it up to realize that it was the teacher's manual!! Again, I wrote the seller and said that I received the teacher's manual, not the student book.  This company refunded my money, again.

3.  About a week ago, I ordered this book for a THIRD time off of Amazon. I received the book in the mail today and again, was not happy. :(  Under the description on amazon, it said the book was in "very good" condition", but unfortunately, the book has writing on every single page and the binding is broke!!!  I cannot use this book!  I will have to write the seller again tomorrow and try to get my money back, AGAIN!

I am actually thinking I should just order this book brand new off the Rod and Staff website!! I want to start math with Megan in about a week and will need a student textbook. (I could use the one I received today, but eventually I will want to get her one that does not have writing all over and a broken binding!)

I just need a math book!

Back in the house tonight!

Do you know that when you commit to a company and sign on the bottom line, they will refill your freon and give you air conditioning until they can get your system fixed?? I didn't know that either, but I love it!! We are going to get our central air fixed on Tuesday, but until then, we have a nice cool house!

After sleeping in the camper for the last six nights, we are all back in the house and sleeping in our own beds tonight!!!!

We're getting a new AC system!

We have settled on a company.  We have settled on a price.  We have settled on what to get as far as ac unit and new furnace :)

We have not settled on a day to get the air conditioning fixed. :(

I'm glad the decision is done!!!

On a non-air conditioning note...

We got out papers back from the State of Nebraska Department of Education the other day. We can officially homeschool for the 2014-2015 school year!!! 

Day 6 of no air conditioning!

We are going into day 6 of no air conditioning. I saw that it is supposed to be cooler today...could it possibly be true?? Maybe our house won't get to 90 degrees today?? I am kind of excited! I never knew the weather forecast mattered so much to me!!  We have had many conversations lately of, "How did the pioneers do it?" and "What about houses without air conditioning?" and Matt even brought of the topic that the city of Omaha requires houses to have furnaces.

We have spent many hours at the pool this week and not much time at home.  We might try to stay home as long as we can stand it today and catch up on housework.  I know we are going to be at the pool all day tomorrow, it is supposed to be 95 and HOT!!!

We have had four companies come out and give us estimates. Three of them have been within a $1000 of each other and the fourth is coming out about $1500 less than the lowest bid.  This company has a high rating on the BBB and they came with a personal recommendation.  They also use the best equipment on the market and have the best warranty. It definitely makes me wonder why they are cheaper, but then again, maybe they don't have as much overhead, get equipment for lower cost, etc.  We aren't quite sure and want to ask someone about it before we go with them.

We also probably won't get it fixed for at least another week.  We are going camping next week, so we will be gone for most of the week. Why get it fixed if we aren't even going to be here? Matt definitely wants to be here when they install the new system.  Matt has also questioned, "Is it worth that much money for air conditioning???" Seriously, we could buy a nice car with the amount of money we are going to have to spend on this! What is wrong with turning on fans and opening windows?? Except when it is100 degrees out!! Matt says we definitely need a furnace though. :) We were also in the midst of planning a vacation in September, so our plans will definitely have to be changed. 

Home ownership is soooo much fun!

The Adventures of Having No Air Conditioning

1.  Camping in the Driveway every night because at least the camper has air conditioning!

2.  Eating out and taking advantage of "kids eat free," you can be sure we're going to go out again tonight!

3.  Coming into my house this morning and discovering a BIRD in my kitchen! After trying to catch it myself (didn't work), I called the Humane Society and they got it out for me...now to wash the poop off the window!

4.  Sweating in a house that is 90 degrees!

5.  Meeting all kinds of air conditioning salesmen...these people need to get their prices down so we can get a new air conditioner....we don't think it needs to cost more than a car does!

6.  Endless swimming!!

7.  People offering to have us come over and relax in their COOL house!

8.  Having things in my pantry melting, such as my coconut oil and the chocolate chips

9.  Instead of Matt saying, "Shut the door," he is now saying, "Open that door!!"

10.  Not having the energy to do anything around the house because it is just TOO hot!

And I thought this would be a week to sit around, relax, plan some school, get caught up on housework, sell things on eBay, etc.

Maybe we will get a new air conditioning some time next week...who knows! I hope it's soon though!!

Here comes the heat!!

It is supposed to be really HOT today! The heat index may get up to 110 degrees and we do NOT have air conditioning in our house!!

Last night, we all slept in our camper in the driveway. I made a huge mistake though.  Before I went to bed, I went to turn the fan on, but I turned the button from "cool" to "fan."  Guess what I did? I turned the air conditioning off!!! Matt and I woke up about 3 am, neither one of us were sleeping very well and then Matt discovered what I did. Needless to say, he turned the air conditioner back on and we slept much better!! We will probably be in there again tonight. Matt is actually working in the camper today!

As for the kids and I, we are hanging out in the not so cool house this morning and we are heading to the pool this afternoon.  Maybe I can talk Matt into going to a movie or something tonight, just to get out of our heatbox!

He started calling around to air conditioner places this morning and is going to start getting people out to give us estimates on a new system...ugh! (which means me STAYING HOME in the hot house to wait for people...)

Anybody want to have us over for a play date???

Broken Air Conditioner Round 2!

A couple of weeks ago, our air conditioner stopped working and after $500, it was fixed again.  The fan motor on the outside unit burned out, so Matt replaced that and then we had to have someone come over and put three pounds of freon in.  This technician said we probably had a leak somewhere and HOPEFULLY the freon would last until the end of summer.

Guess how long that $250 worth of Freon lasted?? Two weeks!!!!

Yesterday, our air conditioner stopped working AGAIN! Matt was not happy!  Apparently we have a bigger leak than we thought and our freon escaped along with the money we spent to fill it up!

Now we have two choices:
1.  Replace the entire air conditioning/ heating system for a HUGE chunk of money
2.  Fix the leak. This is a smaller chunk of money.

But since it broke on Saturday, every place is closed and we are going to suffer it out until Monday or even longer.  Matt and I both saw the forecast of high 90s all week and we both looked at each other and said, "We can sleep in the camper!"

So last night, Matt and Megan drove out to his parents' house, picked up the camper, and brought it back to our house. We don't have a 30 amp plug in at our house, so this morning he did a little rewiring the house so he could make it work. We now have a 30 amp plug in in the garage, the camper is plugged in, and the air conditioner is running! Pretty sure we will be sleeping out there tonight! I have a feeling our house is going to get pretty hot today!

Hopefully we can get this fixed and still have some money leftover to go on vacation in September!!

A Very fun Night!

Matt and I decided to do something fun for the girls since they worked so hard in school.  And really, we had been doing school since about July 15th last year, with quite a few breaks (and a 5 week trip to the East Coast) thrown in there. But they worked hard and accomplished a LOT!

Somebody threw out the idea of going to The Amazing Pizza Machine for the night and Matt totally agreed!!

We know it can be a little pricey and we didn't want to spend SOOOOO much, so we went online and found some deals.  We bought a package where Matt, Courtney, and Megan got buffet and unlimited rides.  Christian and I got the buffet (without unlimited rides) and then we got a card with 100 points for games.

I think it worked out well!! We ate there and then headed off to the games and rides! The girls also had a laser game left on some cards from a birthday party in May, so they got to use that.  We rode the race cars, bumper cards, frog hopper, wild ride, etc. Even though Christian and I didn't have our own "unlimited rides" card, we passed them around and we all shared them. I even got to ride a few rides!  We also used all 100 points on our card! It was a really fun evening!!!

We walked out of there about 10:20 last night and headed home!  Matt only had 3 hours of sleep the night before, so he was exhausted! As we were walking out, the girls said, "When can we do this again??" Matt said, "Not for awhile!"  But it was a great night to reward them and celebrate what they accomplished this last year at school!

They passed!!!

School is officially over for the 2013-2014 school year!!!

We finished our final subjects today and we are DONE!!

Megan and Courtney both finished their 170th lesson in their math books and Megan took her final math test!

Courtney finished her phonics book today too. She had some problems on her final test on Wednesday, so we had to redo it today, but she persevered and scored 100%!

Now to pack those books away...and get out next year's books!

I am giving them about two weeks off and then we are going to start 2nd grade, 5th grade, and preschool for Christian. I know they are not getting much of a break, but we are going to be gone for 2-3 weeks in September again and I want to get a head start on our subjects.  I think the public school kids go back the week after (August 11th), so we are starting only a week earlier (except they have been out since May!)

Honestly, I don't think the kids would mind if we kept going. Odd, right? I think they like the structured time and after we were done today and declared that they had passed, Courtney had a "conference" with everybody and wanted to talk about next year! She wanted suggestions on what to learn and she gave me a list of students in next years classes. :)  I thought it was cute!

I have two weeks to figure things out for next year! Have I ever said I enjoy homeschooling???

Summer almost over?

I can't believe it is the middle of July and things are winding down for the summer!

We are going to be finishing our school work on Friday! I don't know who is more excited...me or the kids! Megan and Courtney each have a lesson of math left and Megan has a final math test.  After 170 lessons, we are finally (almost) done!  Courtney took her final phonics test today, so that is done.  We are getting soooo close!

After school is done, we are going to take next week completely off!! No school, no reading about World War I, nothing.  Honestly, I think the kids are going to be bored, but I need some time off!!

The following week, we are going camping and enjoying the county fair back home.  It's one of my favorite yearly things to do. :)

Then the following week, I think we are going to start school back up again! I know I really shouldn't, but I don't want to go this far into the summer next year!  We are looking at taking a 2-4 week trip in September again, so I want to get a head start this year!

Speaking of school, I ordered the last book that I need for next year- Megan's student textbook for math. I already have the teacher's manual that I needed, so I just needed the student text.  I ordered it from a place on Amazon and guess what came today?? The teacher's manual!! I couldn't believe it. Now, I have to go back AGAIN and order the book for the second time! UGH!! And of course, put this is in my pile of books to sell on eBay someday!

I also decided that we are going to do the next core of Sonlight Curriculum when we get done with Core E around Christmastime.  We are going to do Core F, which is all about the Eastern Hemisphere. It is a cultural study on many, many countries in that part of the world and it looks fascinating!! It is a part of the world I do NOT know much about!  I ordered this last week also and received my 55 new books on Monday! Fun, fun!

I have to figure out science yet for next year yet. We aren't going to finish what we are doing until Christmastime, so I have a little bit of time to think about it. But just like my Sonlight curriculum, I should figure it out now and buy it on eBay while there are many for sale!

For our social aspect this year, the girls are signed up for three classes at the Homeschool Learning Center, which starts in September.  Courtney is going to take engineering for 6-10 year olds and a science class, which is completely about bugs.  Megan is going to take a writing class, which should be interesting because 1. it is taught by the person who runs the learning center and 2. it is for ages 9-18.  She has also decided not to take dance this year, so we need find some physical activity for these girls to get involved in over the school year.  I have some ideas, but nothing set in stone yet!

Along with getting ready for school in August, I decided to quit the gym I became a member at this summer. I gave my 30 day notice today.  It has worked out great this summer and we had 5 sessions of free swimming lessons (extra bonus!), but it is time to put an end to swimming and get back (somewhat) to the books.  I have enough going on during the school year that I don't want a gym membership at the same time.  I know I won't use it enough to justify the cost!!

I can't believe summer is almost over!!

No Hat!

Tonight as Christian was getting ready for bed, he found a hat and put it on.

We finished reading his books, sang him some songs, and I tucked him into bed to pray with him. He told me he was going to sleep with his hat on, I said that was fine.

I started to pray and he said, "Stop mommy, I need to take my hat off!"  He took his hat off, we prayed, and he put it back on!

I am glad he has learned this lesson already!

Lack of Internet

Do you know what happens at the Ruwe house when the Internet doesn't work??

1.  Matt cannot work from home. 
2.  I stay off of ebay, my email, and facebook.
3.  I clean my bedroom!!
4.  I read many books to my children (more than usual).
5.  The children cannot watch "Legos" after lunch and Matt and I can't watch our nightly episode of "Everybody Loves Raymond" before we go to bed.
6. Our cable doesn't work either.  No "America's Got Talent" in the evening or "COPS" at lunch time for Matt.
7. No checking the weather online.
8. No looking up YouTube videos of how to make rubber band bracelets.
9. I have to look everything I need up on my cell phone.


Our Internet was out from Friday morning until Saturday morning.

Actually, in a way, it was kind of nice. :)

Once CenturyLink got out Saturday morning, they discovered that a mouse had eaten the cable in our cable box in our backyard!! It had knocked out internet to three other houses!  It was quite the ordeal!

I am thankful it is back now!

Curse of the Fremont Lakes!!

Yesterday, we decided to finally get the jetskis out on the water! Matt got them running on Saturday and yesterday afternoon, we loaded everything up and headed out to Fremont! It was a nice, hot day and just perfect for jetsking with family and friends!

The problem is that the lake in Fremont hasn't always been friendly to us. :(  For about 2- 3 years in a row, we called it "The curse of the Fremont lakes." Every time we put our SeaDoo jetski in the lake, something would go wrong with it!! I am dead serious! Matt has pushed that jetski back to shore quite a few times and then has had to take it in to get fixed.

The last couple of years, it has gotten much better. The Fremont lake is nice to us and our jetski runs perfectly!!

Yesterday, it seemed like the curse was back!!  We had both jetskis out on the water and they were running great! Everybody was having a great time until some bad luck started to occur.

1.  Matt was out with Christian at one point and they hit a super big wave and both got drenched.  During this, the wave knocked Matt's favorite jetsking/ lawnmoving/working around the house hat off his head and down it went to the bottom of the lake. so sad...

2.  Matt was out again later with his sister Aly and according to Matt, they were "being a little crazy."  Matt and Aly came back soaking wet, so I assumed they just tipped over.  Then Matt said, "I lost my glasses!" YOU WHAT???  First his hat, now his prescription glasses!!!  I just shook my head....

3. Our friend Joe then wanted to go out on the jetski and he also wears glasses.  After seeing that Matt had just lost his, he was debating whether to take his off or keep his on.  He decided to keep them on and go "slow." Well, when Joe came back from his ride, his glasses were also GONE!! We have no idea what he did, but he said he slid backwards off the jetski as he was going around a curve, he hit his elbows on something (his first thought was that he broke his elbows), he realized the jetski was 20-30 yards away, then he was thankful he had a lifejacket on and THEN he realized his glasses were gone!

So when Joe got back, he just shook his head.  When Matt realized he too had lost his glasses, they both kind of laughed. But yet now both need to go get new glasses today. And of course, glasses aren't cheap!! And after calling my insurance today, I found out that insurance does not cover new glasses for Matt.  Maybe next time, he will either take his glasses off or not be "so crazy!"

Maker Faire- Day 1

Last weekend, Matt had a great idea of taking us all down to the Maker Faire in Kansas City. We took the camper down there, camped at Worlds of Fun (but never went to the park) and spent two days at the Maker Faire, which was held at Union Station. I wanted to share some pictures of the faire because I have been trying to explain it to many people! It really was just a faire of creativity and inventions and a lot of FUN!!

One of the first places we stopped at was the robot competition.  These robots were built by high-schoolers (team 1825 is a homeschooling group!) and they take them to competitions.  We asked a team how much it cost and it was $5000 just to enter the competition + another $3000 or so to build the robot!! Wow!

The point of the competition was for the robots to pick up the balls and throw them through the hoop.  You see towards the left hand side of the picture below that there is a wooden structure placed on the course. The robots needed to throw the ball through the top section of this wooden strcuture. And they did it!

 The instructors would come out and let the kids throw the balls at the robots! Christian loved it!

 

 

There were also robots there that were built by middle-schoolers, these were not as fun to watch, but still fascinating! 

 

Courtney and Megan thought the best part of the faire were the free twinkies they were giving out!! I really don't know what twinkies had to do with creativity!!

Another favorite part of my time at the faire was the race cars. Many of my pictures did not come out here, but see under the white tent, there were many race car teams under that tent.  They would take the old kid-battery powered cars and spend $500 to get them running. Then they would race them around this track! Hilarious! There were guys in their 30's driving little pink jeeps! I wish I had more pictures!  This was really fun to watch!

Another great part was the Coke and Menthos show! These two guys in white lab jackets set up 108 Coke One bottles and put in 540 menthos! They then turned on some music and had a show! Again, my pictures during the show did not come out, but I have some pre-show pictures.

Showing us some variation in spray.

 

 We then spent some time at Science City because that was free with our ticket to the Maker Faire.  By this time, I was done and was ready to head home. 

I can't forget this little story! As we were backing into a parking space at the beginning of the day, Matt said, "I'm not doing a very good job backing up," and then we heard a great big KABOOM!!! He had backed into a column in the parking garage and received this dent into the bumper of the truck!

 

Independence Day!!

In honor of Independence Day, I wanted to post some pictures of our trip last year from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  This is where our Declaration of Independence was written and approved on the 4th of July, 1776. I am so thankful that we studied this time in American's history last year and visited these important places! It makes me appreciate what these founding fathers did for me and my country! These were brave men who put their lives on the line for our freedom!

Independence Hall:

This sign says, "Independence Hall: The State House of Pennsylvania: The Birthplace of the United States of America"

This is inside the specific room where many of our founding documents were written, including the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution of the United States of America.  I was surprised at how small this room actually is, I often imagined it bigger, but this is the whole room. 

 

 

The sun chair, this is where George Washington sat during the writing of the Constitution.. The chair is called "The chair of the rising sun."

 



In a room near Independence Hall, they have copies of the original three documents, they told us that these are older than the ones that are on display in Washington DC at the National Archives, but these are also not signed copies.

Boston also had a part in the founding of our country! Besides being the city where everything freedom began, it was also the place where the Declaration of Independence was read for the first time to the people.

This is the Old State House in Boston. Do you see that balcony on the 2nd floor? This is where somebody came out and read the Declaration of Independence to the crowds that were gathered below on July 8, 1776.

If you would like another tidbit of history, this circle shows where the Boston Massacre happened on March 5, 1770.  This massacre happened right below the balcony of the state house (picture above.)

 

 

Happy Independence Day everyone!!!!

Last English test!

Megan is getting closer to passing 4th grade. :)  I will not say that she has "technically" passed until she finishes her English and math books for the year. Unfortunately, we are still working on them!

Tomorrow she will take her last English test of the year. I am probably as excited as she is!! I was not so smart at the beginning of last year and did not think I had to buy the student test packet.  Because of this bad decision, I have typed out every test all year long! Luckily, the tests are in the back of the teacher's manual with the answers, but I am unable to make a copy of them from there, so hence, I have typed them all out.  From now on, I will be purchasing the student test packet!

On another note, she is also very close to finishing math! She took her 2nd to last math test today, she has one more chapter (about 10 lessons) and then she is done with that.

She is also still working on her research paper that she started awhile ago.  She has it completely typed out and everything is referenced.  I need to help her proofread it and then that will be done!

Then I will pass her onto 5th grade!!

My favorite time of the year

I'm being sarcastic. The fourth of July is probably my least favorite holiday. It's not because I don't like celebrating our country's birthday, but because of all the loud, obnoxious fireworks!!

Honestly though, I don't think it's as bad this year as it has been in the past. Usually for two weeks leading up to the 4th, there are fireworks every single night. They usually go from sunset until about 11 pm. This year, I have barely heard any at all and we only have two days until the 4th!

I am very thankful!!

Another Orthodontic visit

I will not give up. I will find an orthodontist that will fix my teeth, do it right, and for a decent price.  I am getting closer!

Up until last Wednesday, I had visited three orthodontists.  All three said I needed surgery. One said to break my bottom jaw, one said to break my top jaw, and one said to break both jaws.  I would need to be in a full set of braces 9-12 months before surgery, then surgery would take place with braces on and would take up to 8-9 hours. I would then go to ICU after surgery, stay in the hospital overnight, and have my mouth rubber-banded shut for up to 6 weeks. After this, I would continue to wear the braces for another 6 months.  So in the end, it would be almost a two year ordeal and cost almost $10,000 (after insurance).

My general dentist thinks he can fix all my problems with Invisalign (only $2,000) and I have even talked to a oral surgeon who said I had 3 options.  1. Do Nothing 2. Invislign or 3. Surgery.

So I am thoroughly confused!!

I continued to look elsewhere.  I had a friend recommend an orthodontist that she said might have a different look on things and he sure did! I went and saw him last Wednesday and got a whole new outlook on the whole situation!

1.  After looking at my teeth, jaw, facial features, he stated that YES, I was definitely a candidate for surgery. My jaw is too narrow, I have a slight overbite, and my lower jaw needs to be pulled out somewhat. He said the information I got from the three orthodontists was absolutely correct, BUT he said it was not 100% necessary! He said if I wanted everything fixed perfectly, 100%, surgery would be my best option. But he kept asking me, "What do you want in the end?" I just said to eat an apple with my front teeth. :)  I would also like to stop the degeneration in my jaw and have my teeth line up. He said that if I did not want everything 100%, he had a great option for me.

He also said that I would have more trouble if I broke my jaw, especially my lower jaw.  Even though I was not blessed with a great jaw, I was blessed with a very nice chin. He said if they broke my lower jaw and moved it forward, my chin would not line up with my face anymore and I would actually need jaw reconstruction surgery!!!  I definitely do not want that!

He stated that I have to weigh the pros with the cons. He said surgery is very risky, a huge time commitment, and a lot of money. What will I get out of it? Will I be happy in the end with my teeth and jaw or will it make things worse? He said he usually recommends surgery for extreme cases, such as a huge under bite or a very small top palate. These are usually the people that when you look at them, you can tell something is not right. He says that when he looks at me, my face looks fine, so why mess it up?? 

2.  He also argued against Invisalign and what my general dentist had in mine.  My general dentist has said many times that he can fix ALL my problems with Invisalign (red flag right there!!). He said he can use it to pull my top teeth outward and straighten my bottom teeth. But this orthodontist said that will only make things worse too! He said that since my problem is my jaw, if my dentist used Invisalign to move my top teeth outward, he would only be bending my teeth outward, not actually moving them. He said my dentist would just stretch the tendons that attach my teeth to my bone and not really solve the problem. He then said that when I am done with Invisalign, my teeth will all go back where they were. :( 

He also said not to trust a general dentist with Invisalign (I said, "That's why I came here!"). He said, 1. General dentists do not diagnose teeth problems, but take molds and send them off to Invisalign to diagnose. This is not the right way to do things and nobody at Invisalign will diagnose problems! (According to this ortho, the teenagers in Costa Rica do the diagnosing!!)  2.  He also said that he has had many patients come to him and he has to straighten their teeth all over again because a general dentist has screwed them up so bad!!! When this happens, they have to pay for Invisalign out of their pockets because they already used their orthodontic insurance benefits.

3.  His recommendation to me was the following. 

Step One: An adult palate expander.(Again, every orthodontist I went to said they could not use a palate expander on an adult.)  This ortho said that yes, palate expanders on adults are not very popular, but can be done.  The problem is that the palate in an adult has already been fused shut and many orthodontists believe you cannot get that back open to expand the jaw.  This orthodontist said, "Yes, you can."  He said that he can put the palate expander in and 50% of the time, the palate will break and expand itself. The other 50%, it has to be broke to get it started.  This is where I would fall.  Since I had a palate expander when I was a teenager, my palate is reinforced (like when you break a bone), so I would need to go see an oral surgeon and they would need to crack the palate on the roof of my mouth.  He says he does this all the time and it works great. 

Once the palate is cracked, the palate expander can push my top jaw apart.  You do this by turning a key every night (Memories came back from when I had one when I was younger!!)  He said I would have this is my mouth for 3-6 months.

Step Two: Use Invisalign to straighten the rest of my teeth. Now that my top jaw would be widened, it would line up with my bottom jaw like it is supposed to! He would then work WITH Invisalign to set my teeth into position.  He would do the diagnosing and tell them where he would like my teeth to be in the end.  I would then probably wear Invisalign for awhile (2-3 years?)  He said he would just straighten the teeth on my bottom jaw.

After this, I should stop the degeneration, stop the headaches, and be able to eat an apple with my front teeth. :)

They then brought out an estimate for everything and honestly, it was just as much as any of the other orthodontists that I have been too, but this one includes the palate expander.  They then went through all the different payment plans and then I asked, "Are you a United Health care provider?"  (I don't know why I never thought about insurance until now!)  And they said, "No." What?? I finally find someone who doesn't want to do surgery and they are not a provider!! UGH! My $2000 orthodontic benefit still applied, but I did not get a negotiated rate like I would anywhere else- this usually took another $1500-$2000 off! But honestly, the final number was in the same range as some of the other orthodonists I went to earlier.

In addition to this fee, I would also have the oral surgeon fee for splitting my palate, which would be another chunk of money.

It is definitely worth thinking about.  Matt wants me to call around (to yet more orthodontists) and see if they can use an adult palate expander AND be a provider under our insurance plan!  Ugh, I don't know how many more I can talk to!!! At least I know what I am looking for now!