Thursday, April 30, 2015

Science Videos

Here I go again, posting videos for us to watch for science class.
 We are going to be talking about mammals and their defenses.

Zebras:  http://easyscienceforkids.com/all-about-zebras/

http://www.today.com/pets/zebra-poses-hilarious-selfies-german-tourist-t18381?cid=sm_fbn

Skunks: http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/skunk?source=relatedvideo

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=skunk+spraying+video&qs=SC&sk=&FORM=QBVR&pq=skunksprayin&sc=8-12&sp=1&qs=SC&sk=#view=detail&mid=21C84BB4AA09650AD53521C84BB4AA09650AD535

Armadillo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhNGdnuFQYM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZGNu40uwOw

Back to School Tomorrow!

We have had a very nice spring break! Now it is time to get back to business!

Today we finished cleaning the house.  I found the kitchen counters and got everything from our trip put away. The kids also found the living room floor. They spent 2 1/2 hours sorting legos! They kept saying, "I never want to do this again." My reply was, "Then don't make it a mess again!!" (This was a lego mess that was made before we went on our trip.)

Now with that all done, I can focus back on school.

It might be kind of hard getting back to school on a Friday, but I think we will go slow and just get done what we can get done.  I have decided to change some things going forward, so we will see if these changes work. If not, we can go back. When I was at the homeschooling conference about a couple of weeks ago, I heard one mom say that they do school for eight weeks and then take a week off, then do another eight weeks and take a week off.  This is something I would like to try to implement.  We have taken two trips during this school year, so I think going for eight more weeks is a reasonable request.  Courtney has six weeks left in her spelling, so we will try to finish some other things around the six week mark. We will see how the other subjects end up.  We will definitely be doing math for longer than that (Megan has 50 lessons left).  I would also like to incorporate Christian more into school or do more things with him individually. I also got some suggestions on how to do this at the conference.

I actually miss teaching the kids and am anxious to get back to it, but it's always nice to have a break!!!

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

School or Order??

We returned from our trip yesterday and the camper is completely unpacked.  My question now is:  Do I start school up today or do I get my house in order?? Because obviously we just brought things into the house and put it all on the counter! There is laundry to do and just many other things to be put away. The camper also needs to be wiped down and vacuumed before we can put that back in storage. Oh and we didn't exactly leave the house in a clean state either!

Honestly, in this case, order is going to trump school! Sorry State of Nebraska, my children will go to school this week, but this mama cannot concentrate on school if I do not have order at least in my kitchen!

The girls also have orthodontist appointments at 3 this afternoon.  Courtney's palate expander started coming off while we were gone, so we need to get that glued back on. 

It may be a "Let's clean this morning and do some math this afternoon" kind of day!

Thursday, April 16, 2015

Leaving Day!

What? Did somebody say we are leaving today? Oh, that is the plan? And Matt wants to be gone by 10 am??

HA!! I have no desire to finish packing...there is quite a few left and I have a massive sinus headache going on and really don't feel like doing anything.

Yesterday, I hired Courtney and a neighbor boy to carry out all the kitchen stuff. I paid them a nickel for each item and they each earned $4!! Well worth it! Do they want to carry everything else out??

I have been battling this sinus junk since last Friday and I didn't take any decongestant yesterday and I think it caught up with me. It really hurts...plus I believe Christian is coming down with bronchitis again. I got out the albuterol last night and that seemed to help him sleep. Thankfully.

ok, maybe I should get off the computer and get going....2 hours and 20 minutes until departure!

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Banana muffins with no bananas!

One of the favorite breakfast foods around here in banana muffins. I have a great recipe and it makes about 3 dozen at a time. They freeze well and are great to take out of the freezer, warm up and eat!

I was going to make a batch for our trip in a couple of days, but yesterday, the kids ate the bananas that I had on the counter! They were starting to turn brown and I thought they would work great in banana muffins. I told them I was going to use them, but they ate them anyway!

I don't think we will be taking banana muffins on our trip anymore!

(Of course the kids thought I could just go to the store and buy some brown ones, which may be a possibility! Sometimes bananas don't look so good at the store and would be perfect for muffins. )

Monday, April 13, 2015

Spring Break!

I am declaring this week and next week Spring Break for the students and teacher at the Ruwe household!! This has come up for many reasons and there is a trip involved. :)

A couple weeks ago, Matt brought up the subject that he needs to take another week off of work due to their new vacation policy.  I mentioned to him that we should go somewhere. The public school kids just had their spring break and honestly, I enjoyed seeing their vacation pictures on Facebook!  I didn't really think he would go somewhere, but he said, "Sure, where do you want to go?" Hmmm, that was easy!

Right away we asked our kids where they would want to go and almost in unison they said to Illinois to see our friends that moved away about a year ago.  Matt came back with, "It can still snow in April, why don't we think of another place?"  About a day later, Matt came back with, "Let's go to Texas, you kids would love the Houston Space Center PLUS it will be warm down there!"

We just finished up a unit on space about a month ago, so it does tie in with what we have recently learned! 

Matt and I went to Texas about a year or two after we were married, so I started thinking of all the sights that we saw down there.  There is the place Kennedy got assassinated in Dallas and the riverwalk in Austin. I also started looking up some camping places in Texas and their state parks look gorgeous! The kids and I said it sounded great, so let's go!

The next step was to find a week that would work.  Our weekends are filling up in May, so I knew that wouldn't really be an option and we don't like to travel in the summer.  We had about two weeks that were open in April, so we decided to take two weekends and go the week in between.  Matt actually ended getting off the Thursday and Friday before the first weekend and the Monday off after the 2nd weekend. That will give us 12 days, I think that will be sufficient. :)

So this week is the week we leave! Yikes! There is so much to do, so I decided to just do a little bit of school on Monday and Tuesday and then spend Wednesday packing.  (The kids didn't have school last Friday either because I was at a local homeschooling conference, so they are getting a nice-sized spring break!)

Not only do we need to pack this week and get some school done, I am sick with a cold and/or allergies.  I am losing my voice at times and can tell my adrenals are down at the moment.  I have been loading up with natural decongestant, vitamin C, and at times, advil.  I hope this goes away before we leave on Thursday!

And if you are wondering, we will definitely be having summer school at this house!! The kids don't mind and honestly, I would rather travel now than in the middle of summer when it is hot and everything is booked and crowded!

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Orthodontic Work!

Yesterday afternoon, I took the girls in to get their palette expanders put in their mouths, so we can expand these jaws.  I didn't think it would be a big deal. I told the girls they would have an appliance at the roof of their mouths and it might be hard to eat for a little bit.

I was kind of wrong! The orthodontist first took Courtney back first because she had to get her bottom spacer put on plus her palette expander. She already had her braces on from last week, so she only had two things to add this week.  After about 15 minutes, they came back and got Megan.

I stayed out front with Christian and talked to the receptionist about insurance and paying for this lovely adventure. :)  After awhile, I decided to stick my head back in the dental area and see how things were going.

I asked, "How's everybody doing?" and the orthodontist said that Courtney had everything on and was super brave, but after he was done, she started dripping (crying.)  I looked at her and her eyes were big and red and she looked sooooo sad. :(  She tried to talk, but she jut couldn't!! She showed me her appliance and honestly, it was bigger than I thought it was going to be! It took up the top of her mouth and was not near the top at all, but more straight across the middle! No wonder the poor thing couldn't talk! She tried her hardest through her tears. I could tell she was super frustrated and she is a tough kid!

I hugged her and said it would be alright and then looked at Megan.  She also had hers in, but it didn't seem to be bothering her near as much. I looked in her mouth and the same appliance was in there, but since she is older, she has a bigger mouth and a few more teeth. It didn't seem to take up as much room as Courtney's!

The orthodontist then proceeded to show me how to turn these expanders with a key, which I didn't really understand.  He showed me on Megan becase I didn't want to upset Courtney anymore! He turned Megan's appliance and she winced, it hurt! Poor thing! I really felt bad that I had these put on, but they will thank me later when their jaws are lined up like they are supposed to be! (And not be an adult and need to surgery to get your jaw widened like I need to do!)

All the way home, I could not understand a word either girl was saying.  It was pitiful.  We got home and I made them some orange juliuses and let them sit in front of the TV for awhile. 

After everything had settled down and we were off the couch and away from the TV, I heard the girls trying to talk. I even saw Courtney reading out of a chapter book in the living room! She was determined to figure out how to talk!

We had supper and that was a little bit of a struggle because food can get caught up above the expanders and there is really no way to get it out.  Supper took a long time because this kept happening!

Today the girls are doing much better! I am beginning to understand them more and they are figuring out how to eat.  It will definitely take some getting used to.  I tried to take the key and turn the appliances this morning, but I couldn't get it. Honestly, I think I am afraid that I am going to hurt them! I told them that we will have dad do it tonight.

We need to turn them 14 times and then go back to the orthodontist. He originally wanted us to do it twice a day, but we might just do it once until we get the hang of it. :)  He said after 14 times, he will measure their jaws again and see if we have to turn them anymore.  When they are expanded to his satisfaction, they will need to keep their appliances in for six months.  Then they can come out and they will need to learn how to talk and eat again!! 

I am not sure how long Courtney will need her braces, but I am guessing for about the same time.  She will have her spacer for a couple of years or until she starts losing her molars.

The orthodontist hopes that Megan will not need a full set of braces. Her teeth are straight and lined up, so he thinks they will just adjust themselves after we get her jaw widened. He said he has seen it happen before. If it did, that would be great and would save us thousands of dollars!



Sunday, April 5, 2015

An interesting Easter!

Easter was a little different this year for a couple of reason:

1.  We had NO family parties on Easter Day.  Both families held them on other days, so we had nothing to do today! It was so weird going to church and then coming right home for lunch. It was weird seeing a lot of people in the neighborhood have family over, but we were at home, all by ourselves! (Actually it worked out great because I had stuff around the house I needed to get done!)

2.  The Easter bunny got lazy this year. :(  Now that the kids are older and I have them with me 24 hours a day, it is SUPER HARD to go shopping for items to put in their Easter baskets!  Honestly, I was just going to skip the Easter baskets and was hoping they wouldn't remember, but leave it to Courtney to remember! We got home from grandma's house last night and she ran right downstairs and pulled up the three Easter baskets!  She put them on the fireplace and told us that she will be up bright and early to see what he brought her! Now we were stuck, we had to do something.

After the kids went to bed, I looked at Matt and said, "What are we going to do? I didn't have time to go buy anything. Do you have any good ideas?" He said, "Let's put money in them, they'll love money."  So we did! We decided to give them each $10, but not just a ten-dollar bill. For Courtney and Christian, we took five eggs and put a one-dollar bill in each egg.  We then took five more eggs and put four quarters in each.  This way, they each had ten eggs to open. For Megan, we took five eggs and put one dollar in each egg and then gave her a five-dollar bill in the last one. I guess when you are trying to find money at the last minute, you take what you can find!  Matt and I then threw in two eggs each of candy!

When they opened them this morning, they had smiles on their faces! They loved it! I think it went over much better than "stuff" and it is much more useful! We may just give them money every year!

3.  Honestly, I think we got about as much candy for Easter between family and egg hunts as we do for Halloween!  I don't let my kids each much candy because of the sugar and the food dyes, but they have been having some here and there. It's ok. :) 

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

April Fool's Day Joke on ME!

All day, the girls have been plotting April Fool's Day jokes.  Most of the time, the jokes were going to be on their dad, I never once heard them mention me in their plotting. At the end of the day, I was the only one that was targeted!

I was making spaghetti for supper tonight and we usually eat peas with our spaghetti. I went to my freezer and was going to pull out the frozen peas, but I looked where they usually were and they weren't there.  Let alone, NONE of my frozen vegetables were in the freezer.  I knew I had some in there! Where did they go? Was I going crazy?? I looked through every shelf in the freezer about three times. I just could not understand where they went!

I decided to ask Matt if he had taken them downstairs for some odd reason.  I went downstairs and said, "I have a very odd question for you, did you happen to move my frozen vegetables??" He just laughed and said to look in the freezer down there.  I opened up the freezer in the basement and ALL my frozen vegetables were crammed in there! What in the world?? Matt proceeded to tell me that when I walked one of Megan's friends home tonight, Courtney had put all the frozen vegetables in the basement freezer! All by herself! I really wasn't going crazy!!

I just laughed because she got me good!  Matt told me then that I should go find her and tell her that because I can't find the vegetables, she will never have to eat any ever again! I found her in the garage and told her that, but within two seconds, she started to grin, so I knew she knew exactly what I was talking about!!

Now it may be time for payback!!

Courtney has a new look!

The other day, I took the girls to the orthodontist to get impressions done for their palette expanders.  Courtney was really nervous (crying)and I walked back with her, but after she got calmed down, I took Christian and we went back up front.

After a little bit, Megan came back out. Her xrays and impressions were done. She also had spacers in mouth to move her teeth apart, so they could get her palette expander in next week.

But things were taking a little bit longer with Courtney.  I looked back to where she was and I noticed the orthodontist was working on her.  I really didn't think anything of it.

After a few minutes, the orthodontist came out to the waiting room and said to me, "Well, we went ahead and put Courtney's braces on today.  I just thought it would be easier for next week." My jaw dropped! He put her braces on!! That wasn't the plan! As nervous as she was! He went onto say that he asked if it was ok with her and she said, "I don't care," so he went ahead and did it!

I almost ran back there and she smiled at me with four brackets on her front teeth. She had requested star brackets and yellow bands. She was pretty cute!! I wish I would have known though- I wanted to take a before and after picture!

Next week, she will get two more brackets put on her back molars and a full wire on her top jaw.  She just has a short wire now going between the four brackets in the front.  She will also get her palette expander and a spacer on the bottom. I can understand why he wanted to get those on this week! It will be less for her to get used to next week! She has had them for about a day now and I think she is getting used to them. She also has rubber band spacers between her teeth to loosen them for her palette expander next week. 

I am amazed that when I took them to the dentist last, he said, "perfect princess smiles" like he always does and said she had no trouble with her teeth. I may have a word with him about how her teeth are not so "perfect" and he really needs to catch problems like this!