Christmas is fun and a great time to celebrate Jesus' birth, but it is definitely one of the most stressful times of the year!!! And unfortunately, a lot of the stress falls on mom. :( I tried to explain this all to Matt one night who didn't have to buy any presents or get any meals ready. He asked me what would happen if I didn't get everything done like I wanted, and I responded, "We will have some very disappointed kids!"
But in the end, Matt and I went on a two hour shopping spree on Saturday morning and finished everything up! I was very thankful!! The hardest thing to do is to buy presents with four kids in tow. I try to buy a lot online, but then I have to stay up late and order what I need. And with Micah not going to bed until 10 pm, I was up late a few nights this last month!
But it is all over now! (Actually we still have one more party next Sunday and I have three more presents to buy.)
We are taking the week off of school, so I am going to have to find something for everybody to do, especially Christian. I thought about going to down to the Children's Museum one of these days. The girls are actually going shopping with grandma today, and I thought about taking the boys out somewhere, but it is supposed to be -8 degrees windchill all day. That may not be worth it! I think we could clean Christian's room instead!!!
I am not sure about next week. The public school kids don't go back until January 8th, but I don't think we need two weeks off. I am thinking we can go back next week some time. The more I get done now, the less I have to do in the summer. :) Plus we are at the end of some of our curricula, and I am anxious to move on to new stuff!
Tuesday, December 26, 2017
Thursday, December 21, 2017
Why does he need so little sleep??
Why does my two year old need less sleep than the rest of us?? Seriously!!
I wake this boy up at 7:15 am every morning. If we are home all day, he usually does not take a nap. Sometimes if this is the case, he is tired enough and is in bed by 8 pm. But lately, he has not been in bed until at least 9:30-10 pm!! Like today, we were home all day and he did not take a nap. I just got him in bed at 9:45 pm!!
It is funny because I wake the older three kids up at 7:30 pm and Courtney and Christian are already asleep at night before Micah goes to sleep. He is two; they are 7 and 11! How do they need more sleep than he does??
Last week, Matt and I concluded that if he had any nap at all, he was up later. The nap could be five minutes or it could be 90 minutes, it didn't matter. We were up until 10:30-11 pm a couple times last week. ("We" as in Micah and I. Matt puts the older three kids to be and then goes to bed himself. He gets up at 5:30 am every morning.)
My older three kids always took a nap in the middle of the afternoon. Megan would take three hour naps! It is so weird when I am talking to moms of other toddlers and they talk about them taking a nap. I forgot what it is like to have to stay home in the afternoon and base the daily schedule around nap time. I love my freedom during the day, but how I wished Micah would nap!! (not really, because then we would be up until midnight!)
It would be nice to have a break too. Right now, I need to keep a close eye on him because he climbs everything, pulls kitchen utensils out of drawers, pulls everything out of our game closet, pushes keys on the keyboard of our computer, gets out markers, etc. And we can't forget all the fighting Micah and Christian do. It would be a nice break from keeping an eye on him 24/7/! My first break from him is usually at 10 PM, and by that time, I just want to go to bed myself!
I wake this boy up at 7:15 am every morning. If we are home all day, he usually does not take a nap. Sometimes if this is the case, he is tired enough and is in bed by 8 pm. But lately, he has not been in bed until at least 9:30-10 pm!! Like today, we were home all day and he did not take a nap. I just got him in bed at 9:45 pm!!
It is funny because I wake the older three kids up at 7:30 pm and Courtney and Christian are already asleep at night before Micah goes to sleep. He is two; they are 7 and 11! How do they need more sleep than he does??
Last week, Matt and I concluded that if he had any nap at all, he was up later. The nap could be five minutes or it could be 90 minutes, it didn't matter. We were up until 10:30-11 pm a couple times last week. ("We" as in Micah and I. Matt puts the older three kids to be and then goes to bed himself. He gets up at 5:30 am every morning.)
My older three kids always took a nap in the middle of the afternoon. Megan would take three hour naps! It is so weird when I am talking to moms of other toddlers and they talk about them taking a nap. I forgot what it is like to have to stay home in the afternoon and base the daily schedule around nap time. I love my freedom during the day, but how I wished Micah would nap!! (not really, because then we would be up until midnight!)
It would be nice to have a break too. Right now, I need to keep a close eye on him because he climbs everything, pulls kitchen utensils out of drawers, pulls everything out of our game closet, pushes keys on the keyboard of our computer, gets out markers, etc. And we can't forget all the fighting Micah and Christian do. It would be a nice break from keeping an eye on him 24/7/! My first break from him is usually at 10 PM, and by that time, I just want to go to bed myself!
Tuesday, December 19, 2017
Crazy Day!
This week is just crazy. It is our last week before Christmas break and not only am I trying to get school wrapped up, I am trying to get shopping done. Today, I managed to get both in PLUS Megan went over to a friend's house, which threw some more excitement into my day!
Megan met this girl through homeschool teen serve, and she called last week and asked if Megan could come over this week sometime. I told her Tuesday would be fine, so I took Megan over there about 3 pm. The thing is though that she doesn't live by us! I though I could either take Megan there and spend 2-3 hours doing errands or I could come back home and Matt could go get her after work. Well, I picked the first option.
After dropping her off, I took the the three younger kids and we spent over an hour an Hobby Lobby. I love just walking through that store! We found quite a few gifts there PLUS a new white board for school! The kids will be thrilled!
After we had enough there, I went over to Wal.Mart. Again, this is not one of the stores that I usually frequent, so everything was turned around! Again, I found some more gifts here and managed to deal with two disobedient boys. :( After we were done there, I headed back over to Megan's friend's house and picked her up. It was about 6:15 at this point!
I chatted for a bit and about 6:30, we all got back in the car and headed back home. It was about 20 minutes until we got home, so Megan and I decided that we needed to go out for dinner. We swung home and picked Matt up and headed to Paradise Cafe. Kids eat free every night from 5-7 pm. :) Perfect!!
Once we were done eating, we walked over to Scheel's to check out the trampolines. I think our boys need one to wear their energy out this winter!! We have one picked out on Walmart's website, but wanted to see if Scheel's had any to look at. Unfortunately, they only had an 11 foot one set up inside their store and it was $2000! Not exactly what we were looking for!! On our way out, we bought Courtney some new basketball shoes because her feet apparently wanted to grow two sizes in the last month!!
We finally arrived home about 8:45 pm! Time for bed!!
Tomorrow is another crazy day. Megan has her last class at the homeschool learning center, I have a doctor's appointment, all of us have dentist appointments, and Megan has youth group.
I am looking forward to my break next week!!
Megan met this girl through homeschool teen serve, and she called last week and asked if Megan could come over this week sometime. I told her Tuesday would be fine, so I took Megan over there about 3 pm. The thing is though that she doesn't live by us! I though I could either take Megan there and spend 2-3 hours doing errands or I could come back home and Matt could go get her after work. Well, I picked the first option.
After dropping her off, I took the the three younger kids and we spent over an hour an Hobby Lobby. I love just walking through that store! We found quite a few gifts there PLUS a new white board for school! The kids will be thrilled!
After we had enough there, I went over to Wal.Mart. Again, this is not one of the stores that I usually frequent, so everything was turned around! Again, I found some more gifts here and managed to deal with two disobedient boys. :( After we were done there, I headed back over to Megan's friend's house and picked her up. It was about 6:15 at this point!
I chatted for a bit and about 6:30, we all got back in the car and headed back home. It was about 20 minutes until we got home, so Megan and I decided that we needed to go out for dinner. We swung home and picked Matt up and headed to Paradise Cafe. Kids eat free every night from 5-7 pm. :) Perfect!!
Once we were done eating, we walked over to Scheel's to check out the trampolines. I think our boys need one to wear their energy out this winter!! We have one picked out on Walmart's website, but wanted to see if Scheel's had any to look at. Unfortunately, they only had an 11 foot one set up inside their store and it was $2000! Not exactly what we were looking for!! On our way out, we bought Courtney some new basketball shoes because her feet apparently wanted to grow two sizes in the last month!!
We finally arrived home about 8:45 pm! Time for bed!!
Tomorrow is another crazy day. Megan has her last class at the homeschool learning center, I have a doctor's appointment, all of us have dentist appointments, and Megan has youth group.
I am looking forward to my break next week!!
Sunday, December 17, 2017
Finally!
I finally consulted my super-smart computer-techy husband and he was able to get me logged back onto my blog! Yay!! Apparently google does not work well with Internet Explorer (even though I have had NO problem for years), and now I need to use Chrome to blog. Oh well! At least I am back at it!
Courtney uses google all the time for her YouTube videos, so she is always logged in. For some reason, it won't work anymore for me.
It is Sunday night, and we are getting ready for the week. My family is watching "The Lion King" while I grade papers and get things ready for tomorrow. We have one week of school left before we take a break! This week will be touch and go because of Christmas next week. I told the kids that I intend to have school, but if we need to take time off, we will.
I am also not convinced that we need a full two weeks off. The public school kids get out on Friday and don't go back until January 8th. I don't think we need to do that! We can have next week off, but I don't think think we need to sit around the whole next week and do nothing. I think we can go back the 2nd or 3rd. :) My kids are not very happy with me!!
I figure we need to keep plowing ahead in our schoolwork! I am not as far as I would like to be in our schoolwork. We started a couple weeks later than I intended due to our trip last summer, and I am not sure how far we are going to get this spring. We will just keep moving forward and go to school in the summer if we have to! I have to have Megan ready to start high school in the fall! YIKES!!
Courtney uses google all the time for her YouTube videos, so she is always logged in. For some reason, it won't work anymore for me.
It is Sunday night, and we are getting ready for the week. My family is watching "The Lion King" while I grade papers and get things ready for tomorrow. We have one week of school left before we take a break! This week will be touch and go because of Christmas next week. I told the kids that I intend to have school, but if we need to take time off, we will.
I am also not convinced that we need a full two weeks off. The public school kids get out on Friday and don't go back until January 8th. I don't think we need to do that! We can have next week off, but I don't think think we need to sit around the whole next week and do nothing. I think we can go back the 2nd or 3rd. :) My kids are not very happy with me!!
I figure we need to keep plowing ahead in our schoolwork! I am not as far as I would like to be in our schoolwork. We started a couple weeks later than I intended due to our trip last summer, and I am not sure how far we are going to get this spring. We will just keep moving forward and go to school in the summer if we have to! I have to have Megan ready to start high school in the fall! YIKES!!
Tuesday, December 5, 2017
All clear!!
We had a great day yesterday, even though we were up until midnight the night before cleaning up Christian's mess.
And I am soooo thankful nobody else got sick!
This is so weird. Courtney threw up once and was done. Micah threw up once and was done, and now Christian threw up once and was done.
I can handle this.
Now to find something to boost my children's immune systems, so we don't get sick all winter!! (Even though my kids LOVE getting out of school!)
And I am soooo thankful nobody else got sick!
This is so weird. Courtney threw up once and was done. Micah threw up once and was done, and now Christian threw up once and was done.
I can handle this.
Now to find something to boost my children's immune systems, so we don't get sick all winter!! (Even though my kids LOVE getting out of school!)
Monday, December 4, 2017
Follow the Rules!!!
Awhile back, I mentioned that we have ONE main rule here when it comes to throwing up. That rules is stay off the carpet!!! Seriously!! You can throw up in your bed, in a trash can, on the tile floor, in the toilet (best place!!), but anywhere but the carpet.
Guess what happened last night?? Christian broke the rule. :(
We had no idea he was sick. Matt had just put him to bed, and I just got Micah down. It was almost 10 pm, and everybody needed to get to bed. I walked into Christian's room and said good night to him and then walked into the girls' room and said good night to them. While I was standing there talking to Courtney, I heard Christian gagging and throwing up! I ran out the door, and he was standing outside the girls' room and holding puke in his hand! I said, "In the trash can!" which was right there in the hallway. He got some in there, but then I looked back towards his room. Seriously, he had trailed it from his doorway all the way to the girls' doorway. Did he forget the rule?? Don't puke on the carpet!!!!
I yelled at Matt and he came running with a container. I said, "Too late, look!" He actually got kind of mad! Christian said he was trying to run to the bathroom. Matt said, "No, stop, just puke in one place!!"
While this was all going on, Micah woke up screaming! And the girls weren't asleep yet, so here all six of us are still wide awake. I have one screaming kid, one sick kid, one mad husband, one girl who is absolutely disgusted by it all, Megan, and myself.
Courtney ran downstairs to get away from it right away, and I sent Christian into the bathroom to stay put!
Matt and I had a mess to clean up. :( He went downstairs to get the spot bot (a little vacuum cleaner that is AWESOME for this), but as he went down the stairs, he noticed that there was throw up on the stairs! Matt started cleaning that up first while I started on the hallway.
Two hours later, the floor was clean. Megan had rocked Micah back to sleep, and we all ended up turning a movie on while Matt continued to vacuum upstairs.
When it was done, we were heading back upstairs to go to bed, and we noticed the wall along the stairs. It had splatterings all over it too! What in the world?? More disinfectant wipes!!
It was about midnight when we got everybody situated back in bed. Courtney stayed downstairs and watched a movie because she couldn't sleep. She does not like germs or puke or anything (really, who does??)
I didn't hear Christian get up during the night, so I am assuming he is feeling better.
I am letting the kids sleep in a little bit this morning, but I do need to get them up sometime.
Hopefully this will be the last of this for awhile! And yes, Christian got a lecture on what to do if you feel sick. First of all, you tell your parents that you don't feel well so they can get you a bucket!!!! Second of all, don't get it on the carpet!!!
(That section of hallway is probably the cleanest section in the house right now!)
Guess what happened last night?? Christian broke the rule. :(
We had no idea he was sick. Matt had just put him to bed, and I just got Micah down. It was almost 10 pm, and everybody needed to get to bed. I walked into Christian's room and said good night to him and then walked into the girls' room and said good night to them. While I was standing there talking to Courtney, I heard Christian gagging and throwing up! I ran out the door, and he was standing outside the girls' room and holding puke in his hand! I said, "In the trash can!" which was right there in the hallway. He got some in there, but then I looked back towards his room. Seriously, he had trailed it from his doorway all the way to the girls' doorway. Did he forget the rule?? Don't puke on the carpet!!!!
I yelled at Matt and he came running with a container. I said, "Too late, look!" He actually got kind of mad! Christian said he was trying to run to the bathroom. Matt said, "No, stop, just puke in one place!!"
While this was all going on, Micah woke up screaming! And the girls weren't asleep yet, so here all six of us are still wide awake. I have one screaming kid, one sick kid, one mad husband, one girl who is absolutely disgusted by it all, Megan, and myself.
Courtney ran downstairs to get away from it right away, and I sent Christian into the bathroom to stay put!
Matt and I had a mess to clean up. :( He went downstairs to get the spot bot (a little vacuum cleaner that is AWESOME for this), but as he went down the stairs, he noticed that there was throw up on the stairs! Matt started cleaning that up first while I started on the hallway.
Two hours later, the floor was clean. Megan had rocked Micah back to sleep, and we all ended up turning a movie on while Matt continued to vacuum upstairs.
When it was done, we were heading back upstairs to go to bed, and we noticed the wall along the stairs. It had splatterings all over it too! What in the world?? More disinfectant wipes!!
It was about midnight when we got everybody situated back in bed. Courtney stayed downstairs and watched a movie because she couldn't sleep. She does not like germs or puke or anything (really, who does??)
I didn't hear Christian get up during the night, so I am assuming he is feeling better.
I am letting the kids sleep in a little bit this morning, but I do need to get them up sometime.
Hopefully this will be the last of this for awhile! And yes, Christian got a lecture on what to do if you feel sick. First of all, you tell your parents that you don't feel well so they can get you a bucket!!!! Second of all, don't get it on the carpet!!!
(That section of hallway is probably the cleanest section in the house right now!)
Friday, December 1, 2017
Children!
Sorry that I have not updated my blog in awhile. Some child (Courtney!) is always signed into google accounts and for some reason, it would not let me log in lately. I finally had to go to the help page to get in!
Now to find something to write about. :)
Now to find something to write about. :)
Wednesday, November 22, 2017
4 Day Weekend!!
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving! Yay for a four day weekend! I could use some relaxation.
We just finished five parties in five days. Wow! (Four birthday parties and Thanksgiving get-together)
One of them was Megan's friend party last Friday night and on Monday, we threw Matt a surprise 40th birthday party! That was fun! (Even if he figured it all out!) Now Matt and I are both officially 40 years old!
***If you want to see some video from Matt's party, Courtney has one on her YouTube Account. Check out "Courtney2006" and look for the video. :)
This weekend we don't have much going on. We have a family get-together tomorrow and a wedding reception on Saturday night, which I am not sure if we are attending or not.
We get to do NOTHING the rest of the weekend. We don't have any basketball games this weekend either.
We will have church on Sunday, but that is it.
Then back to work on Monday. We are getting closer to finishing some of our curriculum in school, and I am busy planning for what we will do next. Megan took her final spelling test today in her spelling book, so I am looking for some vocabulary curriculum to do for high school. We are also getting close to ending our Heart of Dakota history curriculum. We are going back to Sonlight when we are done with that. I am anxious to make the switch!
I think we have about three weeks of school and then Christmas break. Wow! Time is flying by!
We just finished five parties in five days. Wow! (Four birthday parties and Thanksgiving get-together)
One of them was Megan's friend party last Friday night and on Monday, we threw Matt a surprise 40th birthday party! That was fun! (Even if he figured it all out!) Now Matt and I are both officially 40 years old!
***If you want to see some video from Matt's party, Courtney has one on her YouTube Account. Check out "Courtney2006" and look for the video. :)
This weekend we don't have much going on. We have a family get-together tomorrow and a wedding reception on Saturday night, which I am not sure if we are attending or not.
We get to do NOTHING the rest of the weekend. We don't have any basketball games this weekend either.
We will have church on Sunday, but that is it.
Then back to work on Monday. We are getting closer to finishing some of our curriculum in school, and I am busy planning for what we will do next. Megan took her final spelling test today in her spelling book, so I am looking for some vocabulary curriculum to do for high school. We are also getting close to ending our Heart of Dakota history curriculum. We are going back to Sonlight when we are done with that. I am anxious to make the switch!
I think we have about three weeks of school and then Christmas break. Wow! Time is flying by!
Monday, November 13, 2017
Long Day!
What do you do after a long weekend and then you are up until 3 am with a puking child? And you really don't feel like doing anything? You take a low-key day and recover!!
I honestly did not feel like doing anything today. The bigger kids slept until 9 and that is when we usually start school! By the time everybody got through the showers and ready for the day, it was almost lunch time.
I did get some things accomplished this morning. I got all the suitcases from this weekend put back in the attic and I got the rest of the summer clothes put away. I think that job is done now!
I told myself (and the kids) that we were going to have school in the afternoon. Well, we did the minimum. I went over Megan's English and spelling lesson that I let her get out of last Friday. I had good intentions to keep going, but that didn't happen. Micah fell asleep, and I sat down and read Christian some books. I just didn't have the motivation today to keep going. We were supposed to start something new and it was going to take a lot of explaining, and I just didn't feel like it.
Tomorrow though, we are back at it 100%!!! Nobody is going to keep me up half the night, and I am going to get a full night's sleep!!
I looked at our schedule for the rest of the week,and tomorrow is the only day we will have a full day of school. That is kind of frustrating. (Don't forget that I took most of today off too!) We will have about 1 1/2 hours for school on Monday, the morning for school on Thursday, and the afternoon for school on Friday. Then we will be off next Thursday and Friday for Thanksgiving. We are just hitting that busy time of year.
I better get off to bed and get some sleep!!
I honestly did not feel like doing anything today. The bigger kids slept until 9 and that is when we usually start school! By the time everybody got through the showers and ready for the day, it was almost lunch time.
I did get some things accomplished this morning. I got all the suitcases from this weekend put back in the attic and I got the rest of the summer clothes put away. I think that job is done now!
I told myself (and the kids) that we were going to have school in the afternoon. Well, we did the minimum. I went over Megan's English and spelling lesson that I let her get out of last Friday. I had good intentions to keep going, but that didn't happen. Micah fell asleep, and I sat down and read Christian some books. I just didn't have the motivation today to keep going. We were supposed to start something new and it was going to take a lot of explaining, and I just didn't feel like it.
Tomorrow though, we are back at it 100%!!! Nobody is going to keep me up half the night, and I am going to get a full night's sleep!!
I looked at our schedule for the rest of the week,and tomorrow is the only day we will have a full day of school. That is kind of frustrating. (Don't forget that I took most of today off too!) We will have about 1 1/2 hours for school on Monday, the morning for school on Thursday, and the afternoon for school on Friday. Then we will be off next Thursday and Friday for Thanksgiving. We are just hitting that busy time of year.
I better get off to bed and get some sleep!!
Tis the season!
In addition to the fall retreat and small group at our house last night, we also had a bout of throwing up last night. :( Just what I wanted to top off the weekend!!!!
I am sure glad Matt and I have had 14 years of experience with puking kids! As I was putting Micah to bed, I could hear him barely gagging as if he was going to throw up. He seemed ok after he did it, so I put him to bed. About a half an hour later, he gagged really hard, but never threw up. I ran him into the bathroom because rule #1 in this house is to NOT puke on the carpet!!!! He didn't throw up, but he ended up falling asleep on the bathroom floor. We knew he was going to puke sometime, so I needed a plan on how to get him to bed and not in his crib. Have you ever had a kid throw up in a crib?? It is AWFUL to clean up.
I thought about it a little bit and then decided to take his crib mattress and put it on the floor in our room right outside the bathroom. As Micah was sleeping on the bathroom floor, I moved his mattress and put towels all around it to save the carpet. I put Micah to bed and about every half an hour for the next 2-3 hours, I was awake with him as he was gagging or puking a little bit. Finally about 2:30, he threw up quite a bit and was able to get back to sleep for good.
In the middle of this though, probably around 2, Courtney came into our room and she couldn't sleep anymore. I think she heard all that was going on and was feeling like she was going to get sick too. Matt gave her a bucket and put her in front of a movie downstairs. Once I got Micah back to bed, I went and checked on her, and she said she was feeling better and was going to go to bed once the movie was over. I went back to bed and crashed!
Micah woke up at 8 am and is doing much better. He ate some oatmeal and is playing. The older kids are still sleeping. Hopefully none of them will get it!!!!
I am sure glad Matt and I have had 14 years of experience with puking kids! As I was putting Micah to bed, I could hear him barely gagging as if he was going to throw up. He seemed ok after he did it, so I put him to bed. About a half an hour later, he gagged really hard, but never threw up. I ran him into the bathroom because rule #1 in this house is to NOT puke on the carpet!!!! He didn't throw up, but he ended up falling asleep on the bathroom floor. We knew he was going to puke sometime, so I needed a plan on how to get him to bed and not in his crib. Have you ever had a kid throw up in a crib?? It is AWFUL to clean up.
I thought about it a little bit and then decided to take his crib mattress and put it on the floor in our room right outside the bathroom. As Micah was sleeping on the bathroom floor, I moved his mattress and put towels all around it to save the carpet. I put Micah to bed and about every half an hour for the next 2-3 hours, I was awake with him as he was gagging or puking a little bit. Finally about 2:30, he threw up quite a bit and was able to get back to sleep for good.
In the middle of this though, probably around 2, Courtney came into our room and she couldn't sleep anymore. I think she heard all that was going on and was feeling like she was going to get sick too. Matt gave her a bucket and put her in front of a movie downstairs. Once I got Micah back to bed, I went and checked on her, and she said she was feeling better and was going to go to bed once the movie was over. I went back to bed and crashed!
Micah woke up at 8 am and is doing much better. He ate some oatmeal and is playing. The older kids are still sleeping. Hopefully none of them will get it!!!!
Sunday, November 12, 2017
Weekend Went Way Too Fast!
I can hardly believe it is Sunday night already. We had a very adventurous weekend, and I am glad everybody is back at home safe and sound.
To start off, this was the weekend of the annual Jr. high retreat for Megan's youth group at church. The group travels to a Christian retreat center in the middle of Iowa for the weekend, and they have a great time! The kids leave on Friday and come back on Sunday. Last year, we took our camper up on Thursday, and we camped in a local state park. On Friday, we took Megan to the retreat center to meet up with church and we came back on Sunday and got her.
This year, the retreat was in November instead of early October, and our camper was already winterized. It was also just a tad bit too chilly to go camping. Megan did not really want to ride the bus again, so we had to figure out how we were going to get it to all work out. Courtney had a basketball game on Saturday, so we couldn't make it a family weekend again.
Our first thought was that we could get the two grandmas to watch the children, and then Matt and I could take Megan to the camp and spend the weekend together. That plan didn't work out, so then Matt decided to take Christian off by himself, and I would stay home with Courtney and Micah. Matt and Christian rarely get time together, so we thought this would be fun. This is exactly what we did!
Matt, Megan, Christian, and one of Megan's friends left from church Friday around 4:15 PM and they arrived at the retreat center about 7:45 PM. After dropping the two girls off, they made their way to Fort Dodge, IA, where Matt had reserved a hotel room. They spent Friday night there and then had all kinds of fun on Saturday. They went hiking at some state parks, went bowling, watched movies, etc. They stayed again Saturday night, and then went back to the retreat center today around noon to pick the girls back up. They arrived home about 3:30 PM this afternoon. It sounds like everyone had a great time!
Meanwhile back at the home front, I realized how quiet my house is without two kids! These are the two kids who fight the most too. :( I also realized that Christian is always talking or singing, so that was another reason the house was so quiet. On Friday, we went and visited my mom and dad and on Saturday, I took Courtney shopping, we went to a birthday party, and she played her basketball game (they won by 19 points! Courtney made 6 of them). We had church this morning, and then we went out for lunch. We also had a good time together!
Now it is Sunday night, and the kids are all tucked back in their own beds! I have to get my mind set for a full day of school tomorrow! Back to reality!
To start off, this was the weekend of the annual Jr. high retreat for Megan's youth group at church. The group travels to a Christian retreat center in the middle of Iowa for the weekend, and they have a great time! The kids leave on Friday and come back on Sunday. Last year, we took our camper up on Thursday, and we camped in a local state park. On Friday, we took Megan to the retreat center to meet up with church and we came back on Sunday and got her.
This year, the retreat was in November instead of early October, and our camper was already winterized. It was also just a tad bit too chilly to go camping. Megan did not really want to ride the bus again, so we had to figure out how we were going to get it to all work out. Courtney had a basketball game on Saturday, so we couldn't make it a family weekend again.
Our first thought was that we could get the two grandmas to watch the children, and then Matt and I could take Megan to the camp and spend the weekend together. That plan didn't work out, so then Matt decided to take Christian off by himself, and I would stay home with Courtney and Micah. Matt and Christian rarely get time together, so we thought this would be fun. This is exactly what we did!
Matt, Megan, Christian, and one of Megan's friends left from church Friday around 4:15 PM and they arrived at the retreat center about 7:45 PM. After dropping the two girls off, they made their way to Fort Dodge, IA, where Matt had reserved a hotel room. They spent Friday night there and then had all kinds of fun on Saturday. They went hiking at some state parks, went bowling, watched movies, etc. They stayed again Saturday night, and then went back to the retreat center today around noon to pick the girls back up. They arrived home about 3:30 PM this afternoon. It sounds like everyone had a great time!
Meanwhile back at the home front, I realized how quiet my house is without two kids! These are the two kids who fight the most too. :( I also realized that Christian is always talking or singing, so that was another reason the house was so quiet. On Friday, we went and visited my mom and dad and on Saturday, I took Courtney shopping, we went to a birthday party, and she played her basketball game (they won by 19 points! Courtney made 6 of them). We had church this morning, and then we went out for lunch. We also had a good time together!
Now it is Sunday night, and the kids are all tucked back in their own beds! I have to get my mind set for a full day of school tomorrow! Back to reality!
Sunday, November 5, 2017
A little venting...
I am going to vent a little bit. This is my blog; I can say what I want. :)
1. When you say you are coming to a party, then come. If you decide not to come at the last minute, let your host know so they don't have so much food left over!!!
2. If you RSVP as a maybe, please let your host know either yes or no. That way, they do not buy food for you "in case" you decide to show up.
3. If you can't come at all, it would be nice to say that too. Just a simple "no" would be efficient. Nobody needs to know why.
4. If you were invited, you said "maybe", but then put pictures on Facebook of yourself at another friend's house during the party, well, then, I don't think that is very considerate either.
Anybody want four extra pizzas and 3 large bags of salad??? Cake anyone??
Vent over.
PS I told myself that I was not going to hunt people down to get a "yes" or a "no" out of them anymore, but maybe I should!!! It would sure save us some money!!!!
1. When you say you are coming to a party, then come. If you decide not to come at the last minute, let your host know so they don't have so much food left over!!!
2. If you RSVP as a maybe, please let your host know either yes or no. That way, they do not buy food for you "in case" you decide to show up.
3. If you can't come at all, it would be nice to say that too. Just a simple "no" would be efficient. Nobody needs to know why.
4. If you were invited, you said "maybe", but then put pictures on Facebook of yourself at another friend's house during the party, well, then, I don't think that is very considerate either.
Anybody want four extra pizzas and 3 large bags of salad??? Cake anyone??
Vent over.
PS I told myself that I was not going to hunt people down to get a "yes" or a "no" out of them anymore, but maybe I should!!! It would sure save us some money!!!!
Saturday, November 4, 2017
I will do it myself!
Lately, I have noticed Micah is trying to do things more on his own than waiting for help! For example, this morning, we are having a little snack of grapes while we wait for the others to get up and make breakfast. The plastic sack with grapes in it are on the stove. I just saw himself pull up his stool and try to put more grapes in his bowl!
Yesterday, he helped himself to an apple and butter knife, and he showed me how he was going to cut up his own apple.
The day before he brought me a pair of scissors and a packaged chocolate bar. Can you guess what he wanted me to do??
He has tried to get his shoes on by himself. He can't get his tennis shoes on, but he can get his sandals on. He is so proud when he does!! This usually means that he wants to go outside. One day, he was sitting in front of the door with his shoes and jacket in his lap and the baby stroller beside him saying, "outside, outside!" This boy knows what he wants to do!
Some days he brings me what he wants for lunch. One day he brought me a can of BBQ beans and the can opener.
He often helps himself to water. He can get to his cups, so he will grab one and then go over to the fridge and fill it up from the front. If you are not watching him, he will keep filling it up until it overflows and water spills all over the floor! I try to let him fill up his cup once in awhile with supervision. I will say "that's enough" when there is just a little bit in there. He can drink out of a cup pretty well, so once that is gone, he always insists on having more. After about 2-3 times of this, I usually walk over and push the "lock" button on the fridge so he can't have any more water. I also get out a sippy cup, fill it up, and give it to him!
He also tries to sharpen pencils with our pencil sharpener we have right beside the computer. The bad thing is that he doesn't quite know that pens don't go in there, and I have caught him trying to sharpen pens on a couple of occasions!
I am really enjoying this stage with him! His vocabulary has grown tremendously the last month and he is starting to put two words together. He is also able to tell us more of what he needs or wants and we can understand him. He is also very good at saying, "please" and "thank you." I love watching him on a daily basis!
Yesterday, he helped himself to an apple and butter knife, and he showed me how he was going to cut up his own apple.
The day before he brought me a pair of scissors and a packaged chocolate bar. Can you guess what he wanted me to do??
He has tried to get his shoes on by himself. He can't get his tennis shoes on, but he can get his sandals on. He is so proud when he does!! This usually means that he wants to go outside. One day, he was sitting in front of the door with his shoes and jacket in his lap and the baby stroller beside him saying, "outside, outside!" This boy knows what he wants to do!
Some days he brings me what he wants for lunch. One day he brought me a can of BBQ beans and the can opener.
He often helps himself to water. He can get to his cups, so he will grab one and then go over to the fridge and fill it up from the front. If you are not watching him, he will keep filling it up until it overflows and water spills all over the floor! I try to let him fill up his cup once in awhile with supervision. I will say "that's enough" when there is just a little bit in there. He can drink out of a cup pretty well, so once that is gone, he always insists on having more. After about 2-3 times of this, I usually walk over and push the "lock" button on the fridge so he can't have any more water. I also get out a sippy cup, fill it up, and give it to him!
He also tries to sharpen pencils with our pencil sharpener we have right beside the computer. The bad thing is that he doesn't quite know that pens don't go in there, and I have caught him trying to sharpen pens on a couple of occasions!
I am really enjoying this stage with him! His vocabulary has grown tremendously the last month and he is starting to put two words together. He is also able to tell us more of what he needs or wants and we can understand him. He is also very good at saying, "please" and "thank you." I love watching him on a daily basis!
Thursday, November 2, 2017
Late bedtime tonight!
It is 10:06 PM, and my children are just getting to bed.
Matt worked all day today and just got home about 8:45 pm from a work event. Of course, the kids wanted to talk to him PLUS he brought pizza home. Of course, they each had a piece. If my teeth didn't hurt so bad, I would have had them share with me!
Matt needed some time to unwind after his big day, so he went down to his office for awhile. All three older children followed him. :) My house was so peaceful. Micah had been in bed since 7:45 pm.
Matt always puts the older three to bed, so by the time they all came back upstairs, it was about 9:45. Of course, they needed time to get ready for bed, and therefore, bedtime is now almost ten after ten.
What was I doing during all this? Grading papers and enjoying the silence.
Maybe it is time that I should go to bed myself. My nights seem to go so quickly lately!
Matt worked all day today and just got home about 8:45 pm from a work event. Of course, the kids wanted to talk to him PLUS he brought pizza home. Of course, they each had a piece. If my teeth didn't hurt so bad, I would have had them share with me!
Matt needed some time to unwind after his big day, so he went down to his office for awhile. All three older children followed him. :) My house was so peaceful. Micah had been in bed since 7:45 pm.
Matt always puts the older three to bed, so by the time they all came back upstairs, it was about 9:45. Of course, they needed time to get ready for bed, and therefore, bedtime is now almost ten after ten.
What was I doing during all this? Grading papers and enjoying the silence.
Maybe it is time that I should go to bed myself. My nights seem to go so quickly lately!
Tuesday, October 31, 2017
Allergy Diagnosis?
I called a nurse at Micah's allergist last week about his face turning red after he eats green apples and brown pears. After consulting with his doctor, she called me back yesterday and told me it is post peri-oral dermatitis. Pretty much his face will turn red when he eats those foods. She said to not stop giving him those fruit and he will eventually "grow out of it." I told her he just started this two weeks ago! She told me to look it up, and then I will know more about it and can compare pictures.
Well, I looked it up, but it is not what Micah's face looks like!!! The pictures show welts and bumps. Micah's face is smooth. HMMMMM.
Yesterday at lunch, I ran a test on him. I gave him little pieces of green apple (raw, not cooked) to see what he would do. His chin turned a little red, he rubbed his eyes, he got super cranky, and he had two hives on his arm. His bumps on his arm also flared up. And I am supposed to continue to give him these foods??
Luckily I have an appointment with his allergist made for the 17th, and I am going to discuss things with him. I have pictures of his face and the hives yesterday.
I would really like to go to a natural doctor with him. He has some additional symptoms going on that I would like to get to the bottom of!!
Well, I looked it up, but it is not what Micah's face looks like!!! The pictures show welts and bumps. Micah's face is smooth. HMMMMM.
Yesterday at lunch, I ran a test on him. I gave him little pieces of green apple (raw, not cooked) to see what he would do. His chin turned a little red, he rubbed his eyes, he got super cranky, and he had two hives on his arm. His bumps on his arm also flared up. And I am supposed to continue to give him these foods??
Luckily I have an appointment with his allergist made for the 17th, and I am going to discuss things with him. I have pictures of his face and the hives yesterday.
I would really like to go to a natural doctor with him. He has some additional symptoms going on that I would like to get to the bottom of!!
Monday, October 30, 2017
Not Listening again?
You know your 7 year old child is not listening when his five year old cousin tells his mommy, "He's not listening very well, is he?" Yes, thank you for making me aware of that!!! At least his mom handled it very well, and I reassured the cousin that we work on his listening skills every. single. day!!!!
Saturday, October 28, 2017
Writing Sentences takes how long??
We have resorted to writing sentences around here instead of going to "time out" for Christian. We didn't feel that "time-outs" were doing any good anymore, and his behavior was not improving. Little did we know that this would takes MUCH longer than the seven minutes he would sit in the corner.
Yesterday he earned 20 sentences. Every time he hit his brother, he earned five sentences. He did this twice, so he had to write, "Micah is my brother and I will not hurt him in any way" ten times.
He also took 50 minutes yesterday to go to the bathroom and get dressed!!! Seriously!! For being this late to school, he wrote "I will get dressed when I am told" ten times also. Apparently he was playing cars in his room while he was supposed to be getting dressed.
He started these twenty sentences at 1 pm this afternoon. I said he had to write ten before I would let him get up. I don't think he got up until at least 4 pm. I let him get a drink and a snack and then it was back to the last thirteen. He had earned an additional three because he kept turning around and watching Courtney play Minecraft while he was supposed to be writing.
He finished all 24 sentences (he earned another one for raising his voice at me tonight) at 8:30 PM!!!!!!
This child spent 7 1/2 hours today writing 24 sentences. WOW!!!
Yesterday he earned 20 sentences. Every time he hit his brother, he earned five sentences. He did this twice, so he had to write, "Micah is my brother and I will not hurt him in any way" ten times.
He also took 50 minutes yesterday to go to the bathroom and get dressed!!! Seriously!! For being this late to school, he wrote "I will get dressed when I am told" ten times also. Apparently he was playing cars in his room while he was supposed to be getting dressed.
He started these twenty sentences at 1 pm this afternoon. I said he had to write ten before I would let him get up. I don't think he got up until at least 4 pm. I let him get a drink and a snack and then it was back to the last thirteen. He had earned an additional three because he kept turning around and watching Courtney play Minecraft while he was supposed to be writing.
He finished all 24 sentences (he earned another one for raising his voice at me tonight) at 8:30 PM!!!!!!
This child spent 7 1/2 hours today writing 24 sentences. WOW!!!
Friday, October 27, 2017
New Allergy Concerns
Oh Micah! I wish he would have a normal immune system and not react to everything!!
Last week, I made apple crisp for breakfast, and when he was done eating, I noticed some red blotches around his mouth. I didn't call anyone, and just let it be. It went away within an hour.
This week, I made apple crisp again, and it happened again! More red blotches around his mouth.
Last night, I fed him a pear and AGAIN, the whole area around his mouth turned red. He looked like a clown! Poor thing! Matt was home, and he suggested to give him Benadryl, so I did. I am not sure if it helped any.
Because this has happened three times now, I called his allergist this morning and made an appointment.
I do have a theory on this all though. I think he has "oral allergy syndrome." This means that when he eats certain fruits or vegetables, he will turn red around his mouth, his mouth will itch, and all the other fun allergy stuff can happen. It can even turn anaphylaxis. (Good thing I have an epi-pen!)
This all stems from the fact that the protein in the fruit he is eating resembles the protein in pollen. Micah has now had trouble with apples, pears, kiwi, and almonds (these are his other known allergies), and these are all related to birch pollen. I am wondering if he is not allergic to birch pollen! Then his body is mistaking the proteins in these foods as birch pollen and is fighting against them.
I am waiting on a call back from his allergist today, and I am going to ask her if we can get him tested for birch pollen. I don't think there is much we can do about a birch pollen allergy; we have a birch tree in our front yard!!
Here is a good article that explains it all.
http://acaai.org/allergies/types/food-allergies/types-food-allergy/oral-allergy-syndrome
(It is weird though because in the article it says if you cook the fruit, there won't be a reaction. I cooked the apples in apple crisp and he reacted. He also eats pears and apples all the time; why is he reacting now? Is the pollen count just really high?? He can also eat red apples fine, but I use green apples in apple crisp. Can he have red apples and not green?? I know I have given him pears lately too, but last night, I fed him brown pears. Are those worse than green or red pears? Hmmmm.)
Last week, I made apple crisp for breakfast, and when he was done eating, I noticed some red blotches around his mouth. I didn't call anyone, and just let it be. It went away within an hour.
This week, I made apple crisp again, and it happened again! More red blotches around his mouth.
Last night, I fed him a pear and AGAIN, the whole area around his mouth turned red. He looked like a clown! Poor thing! Matt was home, and he suggested to give him Benadryl, so I did. I am not sure if it helped any.
Because this has happened three times now, I called his allergist this morning and made an appointment.
I do have a theory on this all though. I think he has "oral allergy syndrome." This means that when he eats certain fruits or vegetables, he will turn red around his mouth, his mouth will itch, and all the other fun allergy stuff can happen. It can even turn anaphylaxis. (Good thing I have an epi-pen!)
This all stems from the fact that the protein in the fruit he is eating resembles the protein in pollen. Micah has now had trouble with apples, pears, kiwi, and almonds (these are his other known allergies), and these are all related to birch pollen. I am wondering if he is not allergic to birch pollen! Then his body is mistaking the proteins in these foods as birch pollen and is fighting against them.
I am waiting on a call back from his allergist today, and I am going to ask her if we can get him tested for birch pollen. I don't think there is much we can do about a birch pollen allergy; we have a birch tree in our front yard!!
Here is a good article that explains it all.
http://acaai.org/allergies/types/food-allergies/types-food-allergy/oral-allergy-syndrome
(It is weird though because in the article it says if you cook the fruit, there won't be a reaction. I cooked the apples in apple crisp and he reacted. He also eats pears and apples all the time; why is he reacting now? Is the pollen count just really high?? He can also eat red apples fine, but I use green apples in apple crisp. Can he have red apples and not green?? I know I have given him pears lately too, but last night, I fed him brown pears. Are those worse than green or red pears? Hmmmm.)
Tuesday, October 24, 2017
Late nights!
Usually after the kids go to bed, I come back downstairs and sit on the computer for awhile. I check Facebook. I respond to emails. I blog. I just sit and enjoy the silence.
Lately, I have spent this time grading papers. It is not my favorite thing to do at 10 pm, but I get the job done, and we are getting through school sooo much faster during the day. I think part of it is because I grade everything the night before, but also because Micas is entertaining himself! I feel like we are almost back to where we were before he was born!
Last night, I came back downstairs about 10 pm and started grading papers. I finished about 10:30 and finally headed to bed. I was a little frustrated because I can't grade papers until I get Micah to bed. The later he goes to bed, the later I am up. :( I tried to grade papers tonight BEFORE everybody went to bed, but that was mad chaos. I had one girl who needed help on homework, but was playing Minecraft (Courtney), one boy who was working on his homework and still had more to do(Christian), and a one year old who was getting fussy and needed mom all the while I was trying to grade Megan's science journal, and trying to figure out what she was meaning on some of the answers! And where was Matt? In the basement doing his own thing. He told me tonight that the kids have too much homework and if it takes them longer than an hour at night, then it is too much. I responded that if they were in public school, they would have 3-4 hours work a night! My kids just didn't have time this afternoon to get it done like they usually do.
Tomorrow will be better. We will have about 1 1/2 hours of school in the morning and then we head off to the learning center for their classes. We get home about 1:15 and after lunch, we usually get back to school about 2. We work then from about 2-3:30 or 4. Wednesdays are out shorter days, but it is a good break in the middle of the week. Megan also has youth group tomorrow night, and Courtney now has basketball practice on Wednesday evenings.
We are still adjusting to everything, but we will get there. Even if it means less sleep for mom.
Lately, I have spent this time grading papers. It is not my favorite thing to do at 10 pm, but I get the job done, and we are getting through school sooo much faster during the day. I think part of it is because I grade everything the night before, but also because Micas is entertaining himself! I feel like we are almost back to where we were before he was born!
Last night, I came back downstairs about 10 pm and started grading papers. I finished about 10:30 and finally headed to bed. I was a little frustrated because I can't grade papers until I get Micah to bed. The later he goes to bed, the later I am up. :( I tried to grade papers tonight BEFORE everybody went to bed, but that was mad chaos. I had one girl who needed help on homework, but was playing Minecraft (Courtney), one boy who was working on his homework and still had more to do(Christian), and a one year old who was getting fussy and needed mom all the while I was trying to grade Megan's science journal, and trying to figure out what she was meaning on some of the answers! And where was Matt? In the basement doing his own thing. He told me tonight that the kids have too much homework and if it takes them longer than an hour at night, then it is too much. I responded that if they were in public school, they would have 3-4 hours work a night! My kids just didn't have time this afternoon to get it done like they usually do.
Tomorrow will be better. We will have about 1 1/2 hours of school in the morning and then we head off to the learning center for their classes. We get home about 1:15 and after lunch, we usually get back to school about 2. We work then from about 2-3:30 or 4. Wednesdays are out shorter days, but it is a good break in the middle of the week. Megan also has youth group tomorrow night, and Courtney now has basketball practice on Wednesday evenings.
We are still adjusting to everything, but we will get there. Even if it means less sleep for mom.
Tuesday, October 17, 2017
Sickness already. :(
After last spring and everybody being sick back to back for 4-5 months and then throw in Courtney's parasite and sprained wrist, I was really hoping we would have a better start to the cold and flu season than we are! Courtney came into my room at midnight last Saturday and said, "Mom, I don't feel good." I asked her what hurt and she responded with, "my stomach." I asked her if she felt like she was going to throw up and she said yes. She looked so pale! This poor girl threw up FIVE times last spring after never throwing up in her life, so unfortunately, she knows the feeling. Matt took her downstairs and they camped out on the couch and watched a movie for awhile. About 3 am, I heard a bunch of rustling downstairs and she threw up! Poor girl!! Since she had so much practice last spring, she made it to the bathroom and did not make a mess! She was feeling much better in the morning, but still stayed home from church just to be safe. I am not sure if it was something she ate or not because after she threw up, it was all over.
Now that Courtney is better, I am dealing with a certain one year old with a cold and probably on the edge of bronchitis. Again, we have been through this many times with Christian and once we started hearing him breathe pretty heavily, we pulled out the albuterol and gave him a treatment. We don't even take our kids to the doctor for this anymore!! He sounded pretty bad today because of all the drainage in his throat, but he never had a fever and never crashed for a few hours like my kids usually do with this. It may still be coming. I have ibuprofen on hand if he needs some.
This poor kid is also dealing with flare-ups of eczema again, so I am not quite sure what I should do with him. He has a spot on his hip, spots on his back and behind his head, and there are bumps up and down his arms. His pediatrician will just tell us to put steroids on it, which we have tried, but it comes back. If I take him to a dermatologist, they will just say, "moisturize, moisturize, moisturize," which we do, but I want to get to the root cause. I know it is getting colder and dryer out, and that is causing it to flare up, but why can't his body get it under control? Our chiropractor says that he is fighting too many things at once and his body just can't keep up. But what is he fighting?? That is the million dollar question! Now that we have hit our deductible for insurance, I have been seeking some natural-minded doctors and seeing what tests they have available and how much they cost (and if they are covered by insurance).
Megan is also dealing with her own issues of eczema again. Her hands have been soo dry and crack so bad that they bleed. I tell her to continually keep lotion on them, which she tries, but they still dry out and crack. Again, I am not sure if I should pursue this or not. Her eczema is also back on her shins. This was all gone at one point!!
As for Christian, I think he is perfectly fine. :)
Now that Courtney is better, I am dealing with a certain one year old with a cold and probably on the edge of bronchitis. Again, we have been through this many times with Christian and once we started hearing him breathe pretty heavily, we pulled out the albuterol and gave him a treatment. We don't even take our kids to the doctor for this anymore!! He sounded pretty bad today because of all the drainage in his throat, but he never had a fever and never crashed for a few hours like my kids usually do with this. It may still be coming. I have ibuprofen on hand if he needs some.
This poor kid is also dealing with flare-ups of eczema again, so I am not quite sure what I should do with him. He has a spot on his hip, spots on his back and behind his head, and there are bumps up and down his arms. His pediatrician will just tell us to put steroids on it, which we have tried, but it comes back. If I take him to a dermatologist, they will just say, "moisturize, moisturize, moisturize," which we do, but I want to get to the root cause. I know it is getting colder and dryer out, and that is causing it to flare up, but why can't his body get it under control? Our chiropractor says that he is fighting too many things at once and his body just can't keep up. But what is he fighting?? That is the million dollar question! Now that we have hit our deductible for insurance, I have been seeking some natural-minded doctors and seeing what tests they have available and how much they cost (and if they are covered by insurance).
Megan is also dealing with her own issues of eczema again. Her hands have been soo dry and crack so bad that they bleed. I tell her to continually keep lotion on them, which she tries, but they still dry out and crack. Again, I am not sure if I should pursue this or not. Her eczema is also back on her shins. This was all gone at one point!!
As for Christian, I think he is perfectly fine. :)
Thursday, October 12, 2017
Megan's favorite day!
Megan is so excited for tomorrow. It is their first day of "Homeschool Teen Serve," and she has been waiting for it to start back up this school year! I think it is her favorite homeschool activity!
She made some great friends last year while she was participating, and she is anxious to see them tomorrow. I am sure it will be like the first day of school. :)
I volunteered to help check kids in, but when I volunteered, I didn't know I had to be there earlier. (I should have assumed!) I got a text message today saying I was on to help, and I needed to be there about 15 minutes earlier than I would otherwise! I sure hope my kids go to sleep tonight because I am getting them up about an hour earlier than usual!
Micah should be ready! He fell asleep on Megan's lap tonight around 6:15 pm. She laid him on the floor while we all ate supper, and he didn't budge. I woke him up a little around 8 to change his diaper and to keep him up for awhile. I didn't want to be up until midnight with him! (It is not unusual for him to fall asleep around 6 for awhile because he doesn't nap at all during the day, but usually he wakes up after about an hour.) Once he was awake a little, he just fussed and fussed, so I rocked him back to sleep. I put him in bed about 8:30 pm, so hopefully he will sleep all night! He didn't have supper at all. At least he has a fresh diaper and pajamas on!
Megan and Christian are in this little habit of reading books until I go to bed and turn my light off. Sometimes I am up planning school until 10:30 pm or so, and when I go upstairs, their lights are still on and they are still reading books. I am going to shut the light off at 10 pm tonight. I need them to go to bed!
After teen serve is over tomorrow, the girls are going to help their grandma cater tomorrow night. Tomorrow is a day of serving; sharing the love of Jesus with others!!!
She made some great friends last year while she was participating, and she is anxious to see them tomorrow. I am sure it will be like the first day of school. :)
I volunteered to help check kids in, but when I volunteered, I didn't know I had to be there earlier. (I should have assumed!) I got a text message today saying I was on to help, and I needed to be there about 15 minutes earlier than I would otherwise! I sure hope my kids go to sleep tonight because I am getting them up about an hour earlier than usual!
Micah should be ready! He fell asleep on Megan's lap tonight around 6:15 pm. She laid him on the floor while we all ate supper, and he didn't budge. I woke him up a little around 8 to change his diaper and to keep him up for awhile. I didn't want to be up until midnight with him! (It is not unusual for him to fall asleep around 6 for awhile because he doesn't nap at all during the day, but usually he wakes up after about an hour.) Once he was awake a little, he just fussed and fussed, so I rocked him back to sleep. I put him in bed about 8:30 pm, so hopefully he will sleep all night! He didn't have supper at all. At least he has a fresh diaper and pajamas on!
Megan and Christian are in this little habit of reading books until I go to bed and turn my light off. Sometimes I am up planning school until 10:30 pm or so, and when I go upstairs, their lights are still on and they are still reading books. I am going to shut the light off at 10 pm tonight. I need them to go to bed!
After teen serve is over tomorrow, the girls are going to help their grandma cater tomorrow night. Tomorrow is a day of serving; sharing the love of Jesus with others!!!
Wednesday, October 11, 2017
Is it worth it?
Is it worth it? I have been asking myself this every time I want to eat something lately.
Now that I have my bottom braces, I feel that I need to brush my teeth after every time that I eat AND put new wax on some wires that are too long on my bottom braces.
This takes time and energy. I feel like I spend half my day brushing my teeth!
(I know it takes awhile to get used to braces and I am still in that "new" period." Hopefully things will get better soon!)
Now that I have my bottom braces, I feel that I need to brush my teeth after every time that I eat AND put new wax on some wires that are too long on my bottom braces.
This takes time and energy. I feel like I spend half my day brushing my teeth!
(I know it takes awhile to get used to braces and I am still in that "new" period." Hopefully things will get better soon!)
Monday, October 9, 2017
Up late grading papers!
What do you do when your husband is still recovering from surgery, all the children are working on homework, your one year old is being fussy, and you have every assignment from the day to grade?? You stay up late after all the children are in bed and get it done. Or not so done. Or maybe just grade what needs to be done and then finish it tomorrow during school. Oh, and the geography assignment that I need to plan that I was supposed to teach two days ago. Well, I think that can wait another day too.
I am really hoping Matt starts to feel better soon. I could really use an extra set of hands around here in the evening.
End of rant.
I am really hoping Matt starts to feel better soon. I could really use an extra set of hands around here in the evening.
End of rant.
Thursday, October 5, 2017
A Matching Set!
I have had my top braces for five months now. Today, I made it a matching set. My orthodontist added my bottom brackets. :) Here goes sore teeth and cut up cheeks for the next few days!
I will say though I am anxious to move my bottom teeth. My two middle ones are turned inward and the next two are crowded also. I don't know how he got brackets on those today; the hygienist had a really hard time getting rubber bands around them. Hopefully those will be the first to move. They are the ones that hurt the most tonight!
Here is to nice, straight, upward-standing teeth! (Yes, I have a few that are really slanted inward!)
I will say though I am anxious to move my bottom teeth. My two middle ones are turned inward and the next two are crowded also. I don't know how he got brackets on those today; the hygienist had a really hard time getting rubber bands around them. Hopefully those will be the first to move. They are the ones that hurt the most tonight!
Here is to nice, straight, upward-standing teeth! (Yes, I have a few that are really slanted inward!)
Tuesday, October 3, 2017
Micah's Own Language!
I have been wanting to write down Micah's own language for awhile now. He just cracks me up how he assigns words to items, and then he starts calling them by that new word. Luckily, we can usually figure it all out.
Here are a few of his examples:
Megan = Dee Dee
Courtney= Ock or Ocky
Christian= Tristian
He can say mama and dada quite clear!
He also named two of ours friends this summer. Ana became "Baba" and Miki became "KeeKee." He still talks about them, and if he mentions one, he always mentions the other.
To color= Ock
Courtney has actually made up a song about "Micah ocking with Ocky" or "Micah coloring with Courtney."
fork or a spoon= ish
I have no idea where he got this from.
Drink= ink
Blanket= et
He seems to sometimes just say the last syllable of a word.
grape= bleh
Strawberry sounds very much like "bleh" too.
Whenever he sees my blender, he says "bleh" because one day we made strawberry smoothies, and he connected strawberries and the blender.
Ice cream has turned into "My meam", thanks to Megan. :)
water= yah yah. He doesn't drink milk, so if he wants something to drink, it is "yah yah." If it is raining out or he sees water anywhere else, he also refers to that as "yah yah."
ketchup= "chechuh"
He also has learned all his sounds that animals make. He has learned moo, quack, hee-haw (or he just says "haw"), baa, loodle loodle loo (rooster), mow (meow), ruf for a dog. He calls dogs "pup pups" and our neighbor's dog is named CoCo. He calls her "Toto."
While we were on our trip, we were feeding bread to the ducks. Now every time he sees any bread or hears us say bread, he says, "quack, quack." Maybe we should eat bread around here more often!!
Today he saw the tortillas in the fridge and said, "Pizzaballs!" We have made pizzas on those a few times. He will also say "Peachaballs" which means peaches. I am not sure why he has added the word "balls" to these words.
He also tells me when he is going #2; he says "iaper change" because he needs a diaper change! He also refers to his pants as "britches." His pajamas are "pjs."
"Splash, splash" is a bath and he will run right into the bathroom. He also knows where mama's "splash splash" is.
"Blow" means something is too hot and this can even be bath water. One night I had the water too warm, and he said, "blow, blow."
He says "eh" when he means "no" and he will shake his head to mean "yes."
Whenever he falls or hits himself, he says " ah bonkee." He also learned "knee," so sometimes he "bonkee knee."
We have been hearing him say a lot of new words lately. We went on a walk last night and we were looking at the moon. He said, "moon, vow" which meant, "Moon, wow!" Megan has also taught him to say, "chocolate" and it comes out as "cha cha." He loves beans and those come out as "beas." Almost daily, he brings me a can of beans and a bowl!
Micah loves to sing, especially "Backseat Driver" by Toby Mac which has turned into "Bass," so we play this quite often. He also knows "Happy Birthday" on the piano and that is "Bappy buday."
He loves to go for walks, so he says "valk." He will go get his shoes or "esh" and his "jaja" or jacket. He will often bring "Dee Dee" her shoes and jacket too.
Anything with wheels is a "tractuh cah." It almost sounds like "tractor car." He can say "car" by itself and he knows the difference. Everything has just become a "tractuh cah" lately.
"Buckle, buckle, buckle" is either a pretzel or buckle in his carseat.
He loves it when Megan takes his picture; he now refers to her camera as a "cheese." :)
"Das" has become a slide to go down. He loves to "das." There is a slide in his room in the nursery at church and he loves to "das" there!
I'm sure there are more!
Here are a few of his examples:
Megan = Dee Dee
Courtney= Ock or Ocky
Christian= Tristian
He can say mama and dada quite clear!
He also named two of ours friends this summer. Ana became "Baba" and Miki became "KeeKee." He still talks about them, and if he mentions one, he always mentions the other.
To color= Ock
Courtney has actually made up a song about "Micah ocking with Ocky" or "Micah coloring with Courtney."
fork or a spoon= ish
I have no idea where he got this from.
Drink= ink
Blanket= et
He seems to sometimes just say the last syllable of a word.
grape= bleh
Strawberry sounds very much like "bleh" too.
Whenever he sees my blender, he says "bleh" because one day we made strawberry smoothies, and he connected strawberries and the blender.
Ice cream has turned into "My meam", thanks to Megan. :)
water= yah yah. He doesn't drink milk, so if he wants something to drink, it is "yah yah." If it is raining out or he sees water anywhere else, he also refers to that as "yah yah."
ketchup= "chechuh"
He also has learned all his sounds that animals make. He has learned moo, quack, hee-haw (or he just says "haw"), baa, loodle loodle loo (rooster), mow (meow), ruf for a dog. He calls dogs "pup pups" and our neighbor's dog is named CoCo. He calls her "Toto."
While we were on our trip, we were feeding bread to the ducks. Now every time he sees any bread or hears us say bread, he says, "quack, quack." Maybe we should eat bread around here more often!!
Today he saw the tortillas in the fridge and said, "Pizzaballs!" We have made pizzas on those a few times. He will also say "Peachaballs" which means peaches. I am not sure why he has added the word "balls" to these words.
He also tells me when he is going #2; he says "iaper change" because he needs a diaper change! He also refers to his pants as "britches." His pajamas are "pjs."
"Splash, splash" is a bath and he will run right into the bathroom. He also knows where mama's "splash splash" is.
"Blow" means something is too hot and this can even be bath water. One night I had the water too warm, and he said, "blow, blow."
He says "eh" when he means "no" and he will shake his head to mean "yes."
Whenever he falls or hits himself, he says " ah bonkee." He also learned "knee," so sometimes he "bonkee knee."
We have been hearing him say a lot of new words lately. We went on a walk last night and we were looking at the moon. He said, "moon, vow" which meant, "Moon, wow!" Megan has also taught him to say, "chocolate" and it comes out as "cha cha." He loves beans and those come out as "beas." Almost daily, he brings me a can of beans and a bowl!
Micah loves to sing, especially "Backseat Driver" by Toby Mac which has turned into "Bass," so we play this quite often. He also knows "Happy Birthday" on the piano and that is "Bappy buday."
He loves to go for walks, so he says "valk." He will go get his shoes or "esh" and his "jaja" or jacket. He will often bring "Dee Dee" her shoes and jacket too.
Anything with wheels is a "tractuh cah." It almost sounds like "tractor car." He can say "car" by itself and he knows the difference. Everything has just become a "tractuh cah" lately.
"Buckle, buckle, buckle" is either a pretzel or buckle in his carseat.
He loves it when Megan takes his picture; he now refers to her camera as a "cheese." :)
"Das" has become a slide to go down. He loves to "das." There is a slide in his room in the nursery at church and he loves to "das" there!
I'm sure there are more!
Monday, October 2, 2017
Finally got the computer!
Our computer is quite popular these days. I have not had a chance to blog because my children are always on the computer. Megan has been on it quite a bit. She has either been working on a 20 page shutterfly photo book of our trip or she is doing schoolwork or even playing Minecraft. Courtney is either editing videos, watching her previous YouTube videos, or playing Minecraft. She also does the occasional school work here and there! It's hard to claim it to myself! I also don't have little children watching over my shoulder at 10 pm!
Last week was kind of crazy! My last post was about how I didn't want anything crazy done for my 40th birthday. Well, against my wishes, my family put together a surprise birthday party, and I had no idea! They conned my mom into taking me out for the afternoon while they decorated and had all the guests come over. When I arrived home, they all jumped out of their hiding spots and scared me to death! I screamed pretty hard (and we have four different angles of video, thanks to Matt!) I was impressed that Matt pulled it off!!! I think Courtney had a lot to do with it too! It was great!
The next day Matt had surgery for his hernia. This went well, and he is on the road to recovery. No more stepping crooked out of trucks that are high off of the ground. This is how he got it. :(
Everybody has been laying low and watching a lot of movies since surgery. Matt stayed home from church and a birthday party yesterday to continue to recover. He was up and around more today; it was nice to see him moving around and interacting more with the kids. I think his goal is to get back to work on Thursday. He is still taking his medicine every four hours, so he really shouldn't drive, so hopefully he will be off that by then. Now that our deductible is blown, what else can we get done this year??
Even though Matt is home, we were back at school today. I have been checking papers in the evening, and it has helped a TON! (Even though I didn't get to them tonight.) It has also helped that Micah can completely occupy himself! He only really complains when he is hungry. He usually needs a snack around 10-11 am, and then he is good to go again until lunch. After lunch, he continues to play until snack time around 3. He doesn't seem to get tired after lunch, so I don't put him down for a nap. Usually about 4-5 pm, he is starting to break down. Usually I am done with school by then and I can either rock him, or if we go somewhere during the day, he falls asleep in the car. He just needs a short nap sometime during the day. Sometimes he has even skipped a nap and then he is in bed by 8 pm. If we get a nap, we are usually up until at least 9-9:30 pm. This kid has no schedule whatsoever!! It kind of helps though; I have the freedom to go places anytime of the day.
Tomorrow I am going to start sometime new for school. Along with grading papers in the evening, I have also been giving the kids grades. Starting tomorrow, I am going to start to record them and give them a grade for the quarter. Matt says our middle two need a little motivation, and his plan is to give them money for their grades. I am hoping this will help too!
Off to pre-read some history for tomorrow- gotta love studying the Romans!!
Last week was kind of crazy! My last post was about how I didn't want anything crazy done for my 40th birthday. Well, against my wishes, my family put together a surprise birthday party, and I had no idea! They conned my mom into taking me out for the afternoon while they decorated and had all the guests come over. When I arrived home, they all jumped out of their hiding spots and scared me to death! I screamed pretty hard (and we have four different angles of video, thanks to Matt!) I was impressed that Matt pulled it off!!! I think Courtney had a lot to do with it too! It was great!
The next day Matt had surgery for his hernia. This went well, and he is on the road to recovery. No more stepping crooked out of trucks that are high off of the ground. This is how he got it. :(
Everybody has been laying low and watching a lot of movies since surgery. Matt stayed home from church and a birthday party yesterday to continue to recover. He was up and around more today; it was nice to see him moving around and interacting more with the kids. I think his goal is to get back to work on Thursday. He is still taking his medicine every four hours, so he really shouldn't drive, so hopefully he will be off that by then. Now that our deductible is blown, what else can we get done this year??
Even though Matt is home, we were back at school today. I have been checking papers in the evening, and it has helped a TON! (Even though I didn't get to them tonight.) It has also helped that Micah can completely occupy himself! He only really complains when he is hungry. He usually needs a snack around 10-11 am, and then he is good to go again until lunch. After lunch, he continues to play until snack time around 3. He doesn't seem to get tired after lunch, so I don't put him down for a nap. Usually about 4-5 pm, he is starting to break down. Usually I am done with school by then and I can either rock him, or if we go somewhere during the day, he falls asleep in the car. He just needs a short nap sometime during the day. Sometimes he has even skipped a nap and then he is in bed by 8 pm. If we get a nap, we are usually up until at least 9-9:30 pm. This kid has no schedule whatsoever!! It kind of helps though; I have the freedom to go places anytime of the day.
Tomorrow I am going to start sometime new for school. Along with grading papers in the evening, I have also been giving the kids grades. Starting tomorrow, I am going to start to record them and give them a grade for the quarter. Matt says our middle two need a little motivation, and his plan is to give them money for their grades. I am hoping this will help too!
Off to pre-read some history for tomorrow- gotta love studying the Romans!!
Wednesday, September 27, 2017
Last day in my 30's!
Another decade has come to an end. I officially turn 40 years old tomorrow.
I should probably make a bigger deal about this all, but I am not. I am not one who likes the center of attention. I would rather this day would just come and go like any other. (That's probably wrong of me to say that!)
People have offered to do things for me tomorrow and it has been hard for me to say "yes." I am not used to deciding what "I" get to do. I eventually came around because I don't want to regret anything. I also don't want to take this opportunity away from people who want to do something nice for me on my birthday. Why shouldn't I let them? Seriously?? Somebody do something for me once? Why am I not jumping on the chance?? I would be crazy not to!
Then there are my children who say things like "Come on, mom, you're turning FORTY!! That's a BIG deal!" (These are also the same children who want me to leave tomorrow for awhile because they are plotting something. I am not sure what, but I figure I will just let them do their plotting!)
I have heard this many times this week. "Come on, mom. You are turning FORTY. It's a BIG deal!!"
Thanks, children. Thanks a lot!
I should probably make a bigger deal about this all, but I am not. I am not one who likes the center of attention. I would rather this day would just come and go like any other. (That's probably wrong of me to say that!)
People have offered to do things for me tomorrow and it has been hard for me to say "yes." I am not used to deciding what "I" get to do. I eventually came around because I don't want to regret anything. I also don't want to take this opportunity away from people who want to do something nice for me on my birthday. Why shouldn't I let them? Seriously?? Somebody do something for me once? Why am I not jumping on the chance?? I would be crazy not to!
Then there are my children who say things like "Come on, mom, you're turning FORTY!! That's a BIG deal!" (These are also the same children who want me to leave tomorrow for awhile because they are plotting something. I am not sure what, but I figure I will just let them do their plotting!)
I have heard this many times this week. "Come on, mom. You are turning FORTY. It's a BIG deal!!"
Thanks, children. Thanks a lot!
Monday, September 25, 2017
Trying something new!
After homeschooling for six years, it is hard to break some habits. One habit I have developed over the years is sitting down with the kids when it is their time and going over their previous assignment, fixing everything until it is 100%, putting a star on their paper, and going over the next assignment. This has worked great for many years. I can go over with them what they did wrong and make sure they understood everything. As much as I would love to continue doing this with each one of them with each assignment, I am just running out of time in my day.
Matt and I talked one night how I could manage to get through more schoolwork in a day. I said one solution would be to start correcting papers outside of class. Sometimes it doesn't take long to correct papers in class, but other days it takes awhile. If I could correct them at night and then hand it back to the kids to go correct on their own, it might save me some time. He says this is what teachers at a public school would do. I said, "Yes, they would, but then the students just throw their papers away after they see their grade and don't learn from their mistakes." I really want the kids to correct their mistakes. Matt says I should give it back to them and they need to try again. If they are still having trouble, then I can sit down with them and help, but he thinks this should be done outside of class time.
Matt also wants me to start giving them grades. He said this is something that they should probably get used to. The only grades I would previous give them was on tests, which we only had in spelling, English, and math. He wants me to give daily grades. I found an online gradebook and just set it up for both girls for math and English. I thought we would start there!
Let's see if we can teach this old dog new tricks. :)
Matt and I talked one night how I could manage to get through more schoolwork in a day. I said one solution would be to start correcting papers outside of class. Sometimes it doesn't take long to correct papers in class, but other days it takes awhile. If I could correct them at night and then hand it back to the kids to go correct on their own, it might save me some time. He says this is what teachers at a public school would do. I said, "Yes, they would, but then the students just throw their papers away after they see their grade and don't learn from their mistakes." I really want the kids to correct their mistakes. Matt says I should give it back to them and they need to try again. If they are still having trouble, then I can sit down with them and help, but he thinks this should be done outside of class time.
Matt also wants me to start giving them grades. He said this is something that they should probably get used to. The only grades I would previous give them was on tests, which we only had in spelling, English, and math. He wants me to give daily grades. I found an online gradebook and just set it up for both girls for math and English. I thought we would start there!
Let's see if we can teach this old dog new tricks. :)
Thursday, September 21, 2017
Not a fun day!!
Before I got braces, I knew I had three cavities that were located in my front top teeth. I cringed when I found this one. I had one there a few years ago and I still remember getting it fixed. Those top teeth are SOOO sensitive! I did not want to do it again! But now I had three! UGH!
Since they were discovered before I had braces, my dentist recommended me getting braces and moving my teeth a little bit. If not, he would have to drill through the front of my teeth to get to them and then everybody could see my lovely cavities for the rest of my life. (They would fill them in white, but he said they still stain pretty easily and you can never match color 100%). He recommended that I get braces, move my teeth, and then he could go in through the back of my teeth and nobody would ever know!
Now that I have had my braces awhile, I figured now was as good as time as ever to get them fixed. But it was such a hassle! First, I had to go to my orthodontist and have him take off my rubber bands and wires. Then I had to go to my dentist and have the cavities filled. Finally, I had to go back to my orthodontist and have them put my rubber bands and wires back on. Making these appointments was very challenging, but I made it work!
My first orthodontist appointment was at 10:20 am and I had to be at my dentist by 11:20 am. I had my cavities filled by 1 pm, and I needed to be back at the orthodontist by 2 to get my wires put back on. My mouth was not back to normal until about 4 pm. It was really an all day ordeal!! My kids were thrilled that they got out of school all day!
On the bright side, my dentist said my orthodontist is doing a great job with my teeth. He says they have rounded out quite well and look so much better! I get my bottom brackets on in two weeks, and I am anxious to see how those will straighten out!
Hopefully this is the end of cavities! They are NO fun! ( They are no fun to get fixed AND to pay for!!)
Since they were discovered before I had braces, my dentist recommended me getting braces and moving my teeth a little bit. If not, he would have to drill through the front of my teeth to get to them and then everybody could see my lovely cavities for the rest of my life. (They would fill them in white, but he said they still stain pretty easily and you can never match color 100%). He recommended that I get braces, move my teeth, and then he could go in through the back of my teeth and nobody would ever know!
Now that I have had my braces awhile, I figured now was as good as time as ever to get them fixed. But it was such a hassle! First, I had to go to my orthodontist and have him take off my rubber bands and wires. Then I had to go to my dentist and have the cavities filled. Finally, I had to go back to my orthodontist and have them put my rubber bands and wires back on. Making these appointments was very challenging, but I made it work!
My first orthodontist appointment was at 10:20 am and I had to be at my dentist by 11:20 am. I had my cavities filled by 1 pm, and I needed to be back at the orthodontist by 2 to get my wires put back on. My mouth was not back to normal until about 4 pm. It was really an all day ordeal!! My kids were thrilled that they got out of school all day!
On the bright side, my dentist said my orthodontist is doing a great job with my teeth. He says they have rounded out quite well and look so much better! I get my bottom brackets on in two weeks, and I am anxious to see how those will straighten out!
Hopefully this is the end of cavities! They are NO fun! ( They are no fun to get fixed AND to pay for!!)
Sunday, September 17, 2017
You going to take a nap?
Micah is all over the place when it comes to his naps. Most of the time, he needs one. It just depends on when he gets tired. Last week, he was in bed one morning by 10 am. Sometimes he is not tired until 3:30 pm. There has been days when he has gone all day without a nap and has been asleep by 8:00 pm for the night. He has never been on a consistent nap schedule, and I am sure he will never be at this point! (As you can tell, I don't schedule my life around his naps like I did the other three children!)
Yesterday we were home all day. Matt has surgery in two weeks, so he is still restricted on what he can do. I got some cleaning done yesterday, and we just relaxed. Courtney and Matt played a LOT of Minecraft. Anyway, Micah was fine all day. He never got crabby or yawned, so I didn't put him down. About 7 pm last night, Matt was grilling and Micah really wanted to go outside and slide! It was pretty cool and rainy out, so nobody wanted to take him. He was not taking "no" for an answer and proceeded to have a fit about it! I scooped him up and started rocking him. Within two minutes, the boy was asleep! The bad thing was that I was in the middle of getting dinner ready!
Since it was 7 pm, I didn't know if he was just going to take a nap or if he would be out for the night. He usually sleeps a 1 1/2 hours, so if it was a nap, he would be up at 8:30 pm, and then I thought I would surely be up until at least 11 pm with him!!
I laid him on a pillow on the living floor, and he continued to sleep all the way through dinner. We were eating cherry pie and homemade ice cream about 8:30 pm when he woke up. Just as predicted. :) He had some ice cream and some other food for dinner and went back to playing awhile.
About 10 pm, he started to yawn and get sleepy! YES!! I asked him if he wanted to go to bed and he said, "Yes," so I put his pajamas on him and put him to bed. He was asleep by 10:30!
Now, if I am only up until 10:30 pm with a boy who takes a nap at 7 pm, I don't mind at all!
Yesterday we were home all day. Matt has surgery in two weeks, so he is still restricted on what he can do. I got some cleaning done yesterday, and we just relaxed. Courtney and Matt played a LOT of Minecraft. Anyway, Micah was fine all day. He never got crabby or yawned, so I didn't put him down. About 7 pm last night, Matt was grilling and Micah really wanted to go outside and slide! It was pretty cool and rainy out, so nobody wanted to take him. He was not taking "no" for an answer and proceeded to have a fit about it! I scooped him up and started rocking him. Within two minutes, the boy was asleep! The bad thing was that I was in the middle of getting dinner ready!
Since it was 7 pm, I didn't know if he was just going to take a nap or if he would be out for the night. He usually sleeps a 1 1/2 hours, so if it was a nap, he would be up at 8:30 pm, and then I thought I would surely be up until at least 11 pm with him!!
I laid him on a pillow on the living floor, and he continued to sleep all the way through dinner. We were eating cherry pie and homemade ice cream about 8:30 pm when he woke up. Just as predicted. :) He had some ice cream and some other food for dinner and went back to playing awhile.
About 10 pm, he started to yawn and get sleepy! YES!! I asked him if he wanted to go to bed and he said, "Yes," so I put his pajamas on him and put him to bed. He was asleep by 10:30!
Now, if I am only up until 10:30 pm with a boy who takes a nap at 7 pm, I don't mind at all!
Saturday, September 16, 2017
New Recipes?
We are kind of in a meal rut around here. Many of us are tired of the same meals we have been making the last few years, and the kids have been begging for some new recipes.
Here is how the last two nights went with new recipes.
On Thursday night, I made lasagna, which I haven't made in YEARS! I made one pan of regular wheat noodles, plus I added the eggs with the ricotta cheese mixture. In addition, I made a pan of gluten free noodles and instead of eggs, I used egg replacement because Micah is allergic to eggs. I had two 9x13 pans of lasagna. This was a lot of work, but it turned out GREAT and we may see lasagna again in our future. Everybody loved it!
Last night, I made a chicken and rice casserole, but I also added a bag of frozen broccoli, so it was really a chicken-rice-broccoli casserole. Well, I thought it was great! One certain child of mine told me it looked like puke, and after saying it two to three times, I asked her to please go to the other room until she could talk nicely. She ate a little bit, and said she was done. Matt also didn't like it because I used rice milk for the creamy base. I don't used canned soups at all anymore, and I usually don't use cow's milk at home to cook. Four of us ate it and didn't complain. Not as much as a "win" as I would have hoped.
Off to find the next new recipe!
PS I have even stopped buying the ingredients to meals that I am personally "done" with, such as chili. The kids keep asking for it, and I keep saying, "Sorry, we don't have the ingredients. I must have missed that at the store!" :)
Here is how the last two nights went with new recipes.
On Thursday night, I made lasagna, which I haven't made in YEARS! I made one pan of regular wheat noodles, plus I added the eggs with the ricotta cheese mixture. In addition, I made a pan of gluten free noodles and instead of eggs, I used egg replacement because Micah is allergic to eggs. I had two 9x13 pans of lasagna. This was a lot of work, but it turned out GREAT and we may see lasagna again in our future. Everybody loved it!
Last night, I made a chicken and rice casserole, but I also added a bag of frozen broccoli, so it was really a chicken-rice-broccoli casserole. Well, I thought it was great! One certain child of mine told me it looked like puke, and after saying it two to three times, I asked her to please go to the other room until she could talk nicely. She ate a little bit, and said she was done. Matt also didn't like it because I used rice milk for the creamy base. I don't used canned soups at all anymore, and I usually don't use cow's milk at home to cook. Four of us ate it and didn't complain. Not as much as a "win" as I would have hoped.
Off to find the next new recipe!
PS I have even stopped buying the ingredients to meals that I am personally "done" with, such as chili. The kids keep asking for it, and I keep saying, "Sorry, we don't have the ingredients. I must have missed that at the store!" :)
Friday, September 15, 2017
Service Project
For the last few years, I have been part of a homeschool PE coop that met every Thursday afternoon. There were about six families that were a part of it. We scheduled each mom to lead PE games one to two times throughout the semester, and things worked out well for the first year or two. Last spring, things didn't work out so well anymore. We had moms not show up, moms not let us know they weren't planning on leading their assigned day, moms were sick, kids were sick, and most of the time, it was myself and two other moms. We couldn't play a game of t-ball or soccer with so little kids.
During this summer, I did some thinking about how we could change things up a bit. My first thought was to take the pressure off the moms by not having them lead a PE class anymore. Obviously some moms didn't want to take their turn in leading PE, and that was frustrating because it always fell back on me. I also wanted to change it to mornings. We have many babies and toddlers in the group, and I thought many of the kids would be taking an afternoon nap. My other thought was to schedule it to meet every other week instead of every week. I know some moms were pretty busy with their kids in other activities, and that was one reason why they couldn't make it every week.
After talking it over with a couple of moms, we decided to change it to a service project/ field trip group. Everybody always showed up for field trips, and service projects were also a great hit last year, so why not concentrate on those for the year? I threw this idea out to the group, and everybody was on board. Apparently everybody was up for a change! We are now meeting twice a month on a Friday morning. One morning will be a service project and the other will be a field trip.
Today was our first meeting for the year, and we helped bag lunches at the Open Door Mission downtown. We had to be there by 9 am, which was a challenge for me! But I was the first one there by 20 minutes! I think the kids had a great time. Even Micah helped; he threw trash away!
After we were done there, we went downtown and had a sack lunch, played on the slides, and fed the geese at a local park. I could have stayed there and walked around all day. It was so nice to take some time and just relax!!
Our next field trip is in two weeks and we are going to a local pumpkin patch. We are going to take a short class on apples and get to pick our own apples from the orchard. We then get to play there all day. It should be fun! I am glad for a change of pace!
During this summer, I did some thinking about how we could change things up a bit. My first thought was to take the pressure off the moms by not having them lead a PE class anymore. Obviously some moms didn't want to take their turn in leading PE, and that was frustrating because it always fell back on me. I also wanted to change it to mornings. We have many babies and toddlers in the group, and I thought many of the kids would be taking an afternoon nap. My other thought was to schedule it to meet every other week instead of every week. I know some moms were pretty busy with their kids in other activities, and that was one reason why they couldn't make it every week.
After talking it over with a couple of moms, we decided to change it to a service project/ field trip group. Everybody always showed up for field trips, and service projects were also a great hit last year, so why not concentrate on those for the year? I threw this idea out to the group, and everybody was on board. Apparently everybody was up for a change! We are now meeting twice a month on a Friday morning. One morning will be a service project and the other will be a field trip.
Today was our first meeting for the year, and we helped bag lunches at the Open Door Mission downtown. We had to be there by 9 am, which was a challenge for me! But I was the first one there by 20 minutes! I think the kids had a great time. Even Micah helped; he threw trash away!
After we were done there, we went downtown and had a sack lunch, played on the slides, and fed the geese at a local park. I could have stayed there and walked around all day. It was so nice to take some time and just relax!!
Our next field trip is in two weeks and we are going to a local pumpkin patch. We are going to take a short class on apples and get to pick our own apples from the orchard. We then get to play there all day. It should be fun! I am glad for a change of pace!
Thursday, September 14, 2017
INTERRUPTIONS!
When people ask how school is going so far in our house, I respond with, "Well, we are getting there." The first few weeks, we just did math and English to get going. I thought things went great. Micah played well by himself and I didn't have much trouble.
The last week or so, I added back ALL the subjects. Guess who does not want to cooperate anymore?? Micah!! He is the great interrupter!! Hold me, get me a drink, put my trucks back together, snack, diaper change, etc, etc, etc. It is always something!! And of course, I don't really want to stop teaching to help him, so the girls will usually pop up and help. (I do help him occasionally.) But these last two days have been pretty bad. :(
This morning, he was fussy and whiny, so I decided to put him down for a nap. I thought if I took the time to read him stories and the whole bit, then he would sleep at least 1 1/2 hours for me while I could work on school. (Lately, I have just been rocking him to sleep as I read to the kids.) WRONG! I started to put him to bed at 9:45 am and I was still in his room at 10:30 and he STILL wasn't sleeping. I got him back up and brought him back downstairs. I knew he was tired though. From 10:30-12, he just whined and whined and bothered us and just couldn't play on his own. I got him a drink, I gave him snacks, I picked him up, but nothing worked. Around 12, we were finishing schoolwork and he just couldn't control himself anymore. I decided that he really needed a nap! I put him in his bed and let him have a fit for about 30 minutes. Eventually he went to sleep and has been sleeping the last 1 1/2 hours. Unfortunately, we are on our lunch/ recess break, so this doesn't really help me!
If Micah isn't giving me trouble, then Christian is. We brought all the trains downstairs for both boys to play with, but they just can't seem to play well together. I have to keep breaking up fights and figuring out who was playing with what. I kind of want to split all the train stuff into two piles and put each boy and a pile in their separate corners!! GET Along!!!
The last week or so, I added back ALL the subjects. Guess who does not want to cooperate anymore?? Micah!! He is the great interrupter!! Hold me, get me a drink, put my trucks back together, snack, diaper change, etc, etc, etc. It is always something!! And of course, I don't really want to stop teaching to help him, so the girls will usually pop up and help. (I do help him occasionally.) But these last two days have been pretty bad. :(
This morning, he was fussy and whiny, so I decided to put him down for a nap. I thought if I took the time to read him stories and the whole bit, then he would sleep at least 1 1/2 hours for me while I could work on school. (Lately, I have just been rocking him to sleep as I read to the kids.) WRONG! I started to put him to bed at 9:45 am and I was still in his room at 10:30 and he STILL wasn't sleeping. I got him back up and brought him back downstairs. I knew he was tired though. From 10:30-12, he just whined and whined and bothered us and just couldn't play on his own. I got him a drink, I gave him snacks, I picked him up, but nothing worked. Around 12, we were finishing schoolwork and he just couldn't control himself anymore. I decided that he really needed a nap! I put him in his bed and let him have a fit for about 30 minutes. Eventually he went to sleep and has been sleeping the last 1 1/2 hours. Unfortunately, we are on our lunch/ recess break, so this doesn't really help me!
If Micah isn't giving me trouble, then Christian is. We brought all the trains downstairs for both boys to play with, but they just can't seem to play well together. I have to keep breaking up fights and figuring out who was playing with what. I kind of want to split all the train stuff into two piles and put each boy and a pile in their separate corners!! GET Along!!!
Monday, September 11, 2017
9-11 Memorial in New York City
When we were in New York City, we were very fortunate that we were able to take the kids to the 9-11 Memorial in downtown Manhattan. As we watched old footage today, we were able to place ourselves there and talk about things. We learned more things about that day today as we read and put it all together. I really hope the kids appreciate the time we had at the memorial.
Things were a little different than when we were there four years ago, such as that we didn't have to go through three rounds of security to get in! They had taken down the six foot gates that surrounded the whole complex. The Freedom Tower was done along with the 9-11 Museum, which we did not have a chance to go in because we were there too late in the day.
Freedom Tower
One of the reflecting pools. I could sit here for hours and watch the waterfalls and read the names of the people on the sides.
So touching.
Megan and Christian.
The other reflecting pool.
We could look through the windows to the museum. I wish we could have gone in! These were pieces from the actual buildings that collapsed. There is also a huge display of flags. Some of these flags were hanging in the World Trade Center when it collapsed. (We weren't the only people looking through the windows!)
Matt, Micah, and I in front of a reflecting pool. It was about 9 at night, so Micah was getting tired. He fell asleep shortly after this picture. We headed to the Brooklyn Bridge after this, and I carried him the WHOLE way there and back to the subway station!
If anybody has a chance, they need to go see this memorial!! Even if it is all you see in NYC. Ok, along with the Statue of Liberty. :)
Things were a little different than when we were there four years ago, such as that we didn't have to go through three rounds of security to get in! They had taken down the six foot gates that surrounded the whole complex. The Freedom Tower was done along with the 9-11 Museum, which we did not have a chance to go in because we were there too late in the day.
Freedom Tower
One of the reflecting pools. I could sit here for hours and watch the waterfalls and read the names of the people on the sides.
So touching.
Megan and Christian.
The other reflecting pool.
We could look through the windows to the museum. I wish we could have gone in! These were pieces from the actual buildings that collapsed. There is also a huge display of flags. Some of these flags were hanging in the World Trade Center when it collapsed. (We weren't the only people looking through the windows!)
Matt, Micah, and I in front of a reflecting pool. It was about 9 at night, so Micah was getting tired. He fell asleep shortly after this picture. We headed to the Brooklyn Bridge after this, and I carried him the WHOLE way there and back to the subway station!
Sunday, September 10, 2017
The Space Shuttle Discovery (Another Trip Post)
One place that we wanted to see again when we got to Washington, DC was the Air and Space Museum in Virginia. We stopped there four years ago and saw the space shuttle Discovery, which was AMAZING, but since we got there so late, we only saw the shuttle and then we had to leave. Matt wanted to see the rest of the museum this time, so we went back. He said this was really the only thing he wanted to see in the DC area! I thought we should go to this museum the first day we were in DC.
The space shuttle was just as amazing as it was four years ago!
(As a side note, Matt accidently deleted five days worth of pictures from my camera, and this was one of the days he deleted. Luckily, Megan was also taking pictures with her camera, so these are Megan's pictures. )
The Smithsonian Museum! You can see people walking up to it. This museum is located about an hour outside of Washington DC in Virginia. It is near the Washington Dulles airport.
And of course, Megan has no pictures of us running into the museum in the pouring rain! And Matt couldn't figure out the parking machines, so he had to run back out with a "free parking pass." He was completely soaked!
Space Shuttle Discovery! This is what you see as you walk into the museum.
They had a video of the last Discovery launch from Kennedy Space Center.
A view of the space shuttle. Pictures just don't do this justice. It is huge!
The back of the space shuttle. See the little people down below?
A space suit that was used when walking on the moon.
And of course, Megan likes to pose people and take pictures. I thought these were cute!! Such serious poses of my kids!
Don't mind the German swastika in the background!
The space shuttle was just as amazing as it was four years ago!
(As a side note, Matt accidently deleted five days worth of pictures from my camera, and this was one of the days he deleted. Luckily, Megan was also taking pictures with her camera, so these are Megan's pictures. )
The Smithsonian Museum! You can see people walking up to it. This museum is located about an hour outside of Washington DC in Virginia. It is near the Washington Dulles airport.
Space Shuttle Discovery! This is what you see as you walk into the museum.
The front of the space shuttle. I love that you can see all the wear and tear on the heat tiles on the bottom of the aircraft.
I guess when you are not taking pictures, you might actually get IN a picture!
They had a video of the last Discovery launch from Kennedy Space Center.
A view of the space shuttle. Pictures just don't do this justice. It is huge!
The back of the space shuttle. See the little people down below?
A space suit that was used when walking on the moon.
And of course, Megan likes to pose people and take pictures. I thought these were cute!! Such serious poses of my kids!
Summer is over!
Yesterday Matt and I declared the end of summer. We finally realized that we are not going to have a chance to get the jetskiis out this summer. :( We headed out to his parents' house to drain the old gas out of them, and then we brought them back to Omaha to store them for the winter.
We have had literally no time to get them out this summer. We were busy every weekend before we left on our trip, and then we left for six weeks. Once we got back, Matt developed his hernia and he says there is NO WAY he is going to get on a jetski with that! I said he could just put them in the water and I could drive them. :) But he had 30 gallons to burn between the two., and he said I wouldn't be able to burn that all in one afternoon. Haha!!
Once he drained the gas out yesterday, he said it was pretty bad anyway and the jetskiis would not have run very well. He refilled them with new gas yesterday, and they will go back into storage until next year.
Hopefully next year, we will get them out! We didn't even get out to the lakes this year to camp!
We have had literally no time to get them out this summer. We were busy every weekend before we left on our trip, and then we left for six weeks. Once we got back, Matt developed his hernia and he says there is NO WAY he is going to get on a jetski with that! I said he could just put them in the water and I could drive them. :) But he had 30 gallons to burn between the two., and he said I wouldn't be able to burn that all in one afternoon. Haha!!
Once he drained the gas out yesterday, he said it was pretty bad anyway and the jetskiis would not have run very well. He refilled them with new gas yesterday, and they will go back into storage until next year.
Hopefully next year, we will get them out! We didn't even get out to the lakes this year to camp!
Wednesday, September 6, 2017
What? No surgery today??
Today we "thought" Matt was scheduled to have hernia surgery. He didn't eat anything this morning, we had a babysitter lined up for the day, and he was prepared to lay low the next five days or so. He even told work he would not be in for the next three days.
At the end of his doctor's appointment last week where they determined he had a hernia, he was told to be at a clinic at 11:15 am on Thursday. I had received a automated call to tell me about his appointment. A nurse never called and talked to him about surgery or had anyone given us any surgery instructions, which we thought was kind of odd. We just thought they forgot or something. As for today, we thought we were going to meet the surgeon right before the surgery and the surgery would be done in this building. I know surgeries can be done in outpatient facilities, so it all made sense to me.
He checked in and filled out some paperwork and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Matt was taken back to a room and we chatted with the nurse a little bit. Again, we thought we were just meeting the doctor before the surgery.
Soon the doctor came in and introduced himself. He wanted to see where Matt's hernia was and said, "Yep, that's a hernia." He then went on to explain how he was going to fix it. Again, nothing out of the ordinary! He then said "You are going to need about five days off for recovery." So I said out loud, "Ok, he has today, Thursday, Friday, and then the weekend. He should be ready to go back to work on Monday, right?" The doctor just looked at me. I said, "He is scheduled for surgery today, right?" The doctor said, "He's not having surgery today! You need to see me, we need to reserve the operating room, reserve the anesthesiologist, etc. Who told you that you were having surgery today??"
Matt and I were kind of stunned. So now he wasn't having surgery today?? It was kind of hard to wrap our heads around for about ten minutes. We were all ready for surgery!!
The more we thought about it, nobody really informed us of what was going on today. Matt said when he saw the family doctor last week, the doctor said, "You have a hernia and you will need surgery. We will go ahead and set it up for you." Shortly after that, a nurse brought Matt a piece of paper with an address and a time on it. He assumed that this was surgery since they were just talking about it. He said he never heard anything about a consultation. We then heard from his mom (retired nurse) that sometimes you meet the surgeon right before surgery, so that made sense to us.
So in the end, we saw the doctor, he verified that Matt had a hernia, and we set up surgery for October. It is for real this time!! We followed all the steps like we were supposed to! We were in that office not even 30 minutes!
The bummer part of it all was that Matt was looking forward to getting this fixed today, and now he has to wait another whole month. He said the hernia doesn't really hurt, but it is fairly uncomfortable. He says it starts to hurt if he does too much, so he has been laying low lately. He is not looking forward to another whole month of restriction and being uncomfortable!!! I guess he is just going to have to grin and bear it until October 5th!
At the end of his doctor's appointment last week where they determined he had a hernia, he was told to be at a clinic at 11:15 am on Thursday. I had received a automated call to tell me about his appointment. A nurse never called and talked to him about surgery or had anyone given us any surgery instructions, which we thought was kind of odd. We just thought they forgot or something. As for today, we thought we were going to meet the surgeon right before the surgery and the surgery would be done in this building. I know surgeries can be done in outpatient facilities, so it all made sense to me.
He checked in and filled out some paperwork and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Matt was taken back to a room and we chatted with the nurse a little bit. Again, we thought we were just meeting the doctor before the surgery.
Soon the doctor came in and introduced himself. He wanted to see where Matt's hernia was and said, "Yep, that's a hernia." He then went on to explain how he was going to fix it. Again, nothing out of the ordinary! He then said "You are going to need about five days off for recovery." So I said out loud, "Ok, he has today, Thursday, Friday, and then the weekend. He should be ready to go back to work on Monday, right?" The doctor just looked at me. I said, "He is scheduled for surgery today, right?" The doctor said, "He's not having surgery today! You need to see me, we need to reserve the operating room, reserve the anesthesiologist, etc. Who told you that you were having surgery today??"
Matt and I were kind of stunned. So now he wasn't having surgery today?? It was kind of hard to wrap our heads around for about ten minutes. We were all ready for surgery!!
The more we thought about it, nobody really informed us of what was going on today. Matt said when he saw the family doctor last week, the doctor said, "You have a hernia and you will need surgery. We will go ahead and set it up for you." Shortly after that, a nurse brought Matt a piece of paper with an address and a time on it. He assumed that this was surgery since they were just talking about it. He said he never heard anything about a consultation. We then heard from his mom (retired nurse) that sometimes you meet the surgeon right before surgery, so that made sense to us.
So in the end, we saw the doctor, he verified that Matt had a hernia, and we set up surgery for October. It is for real this time!! We followed all the steps like we were supposed to! We were in that office not even 30 minutes!
The bummer part of it all was that Matt was looking forward to getting this fixed today, and now he has to wait another whole month. He said the hernia doesn't really hurt, but it is fairly uncomfortable. He says it starts to hurt if he does too much, so he has been laying low lately. He is not looking forward to another whole month of restriction and being uncomfortable!!! I guess he is just going to have to grin and bear it until October 5th!
Monday, September 4, 2017
A Very Productive Labor Day!
I am going to take a break for the day from vacation photos. I need to throw some blogs up about our regular life around here! That is half the point of my blog!
Today was Labor Day and since we didn't go camping anywhere for the weekend, we stayed home and relaxed. Well, kind of. I insisted that we do some schoolwork. (How dare I??) I told the girls that they were getting Wednesday off and today would make up for Wednesday. After telling one certain 11 year old to stop complaining about going to school on Labor Day, we sat down and got a math lesson done. She was done in about ten minutes! Rough!! I then turned to the 13 year old old and got her pre-algebra done; that took a little bit longer! I am relearning pre-algebra all over again! Unfortunately, I ran out of time to get to Christian!
I also knew that there would be some great sales today that I wanted to take advantage of. I am in dire need of a new food processor! I didn't use one the first 15 years of our marriage and now I use mine almost daily. Megan dropped a piece one day and started a crack in the bowl and since then, it has just gotten worse, but always kept working. I took it along on our trip and one day while it was out, Christian decided to see how "it worked." Well, he finished it off and it didn't "work" the last part of our trip. I was not happy. :( The base works just fine, it is just the bowl and other top plastic parts that broke. It would have cost $60 to get replacement parts, so I bought a brand new one at Kohl's today for $77. I am thankful for their 20% off plus $10 off when you spend over $25!!!
After I laid Micah down for a nap, the girls and I headed out to pick it up. We were also on a mission to find Courtney some new shoes. She has had a pair of tennis shoes since April, and she already has a hole in each shoe. This child wears them nonstop! She did not wear sandals all summer. With basketball coming up, she really needed a new pair. We ended up at the mall today and found her a pair of Under Armour basketball shoes on the clearance for $16!! I told her that since these would be for basketball, she really needed another pair of everyday shoes. We went to Penney's and found her another pair of tennis shoes for $25. Not bad!
Matt and I also are not very good when it comes to getting our kids birthday presents, so she saw an emoji pillow and I bought it for her. :) She was pretty happy!
Tomorrow we are back to school. We have math and English going, so I think we might add spelling and writing in tomorrow. Matt is having surgery on Wednesday, so that day is gone, but then we will be back at it on Thursday and Friday. Hopefully next week, we will be going 100%. I have a lot of preparing to do yet. It's sometimes hard to teach each subject for three different grades!!
Today was Labor Day and since we didn't go camping anywhere for the weekend, we stayed home and relaxed. Well, kind of. I insisted that we do some schoolwork. (How dare I??) I told the girls that they were getting Wednesday off and today would make up for Wednesday. After telling one certain 11 year old to stop complaining about going to school on Labor Day, we sat down and got a math lesson done. She was done in about ten minutes! Rough!! I then turned to the 13 year old old and got her pre-algebra done; that took a little bit longer! I am relearning pre-algebra all over again! Unfortunately, I ran out of time to get to Christian!
I also knew that there would be some great sales today that I wanted to take advantage of. I am in dire need of a new food processor! I didn't use one the first 15 years of our marriage and now I use mine almost daily. Megan dropped a piece one day and started a crack in the bowl and since then, it has just gotten worse, but always kept working. I took it along on our trip and one day while it was out, Christian decided to see how "it worked." Well, he finished it off and it didn't "work" the last part of our trip. I was not happy. :( The base works just fine, it is just the bowl and other top plastic parts that broke. It would have cost $60 to get replacement parts, so I bought a brand new one at Kohl's today for $77. I am thankful for their 20% off plus $10 off when you spend over $25!!!
After I laid Micah down for a nap, the girls and I headed out to pick it up. We were also on a mission to find Courtney some new shoes. She has had a pair of tennis shoes since April, and she already has a hole in each shoe. This child wears them nonstop! She did not wear sandals all summer. With basketball coming up, she really needed a new pair. We ended up at the mall today and found her a pair of Under Armour basketball shoes on the clearance for $16!! I told her that since these would be for basketball, she really needed another pair of everyday shoes. We went to Penney's and found her another pair of tennis shoes for $25. Not bad!
Matt and I also are not very good when it comes to getting our kids birthday presents, so she saw an emoji pillow and I bought it for her. :) She was pretty happy!
Tomorrow we are back to school. We have math and English going, so I think we might add spelling and writing in tomorrow. Matt is having surgery on Wednesday, so that day is gone, but then we will be back at it on Thursday and Friday. Hopefully next week, we will be going 100%. I have a lot of preparing to do yet. It's sometimes hard to teach each subject for three different grades!!
Saturday, September 2, 2017
Beach Day!!
One thing we really wanted to do on this trip was to swim in the Atlantic Ocean. We got that opportunity in Kennebunkport, Maine! (I blogged about our fun campground a couple entries back- Red Apple Campground.)
The girls and Matt actually got up at 5:10 am that morning to go see the sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean, but it didn't go as well as they planned. They didn't quite know where to go to watch the sun rise over the ocean.
After they got back, we thought it would be fun to do some hiking and other touristy stuff in the morning and then spend the afternoon in the beach. Everything that looked fun or exciting cost money or was too far away, so we just headed to the beach in the morning. We didn't take our swimsuits or anything, but just let the kids wade in the water in their clothes.
Christian on our way to the beach in the morning.
All four kids with their feet in the Atlantic Ocean!!
After we played in the water awhile, we decided to get lunch. A man at our campground recommended a place called "Ramp Up," so we headed over there. Unfortunately, meals were about $15 a person, so we headed to Subway instead. It looks like it would have been a fun place to eat!
Now we were ready to swim in the ocean!! Matt said this was his favorite day of the entire trip!
Matt and Megan playing in the waves.
Micah LOVED chasing the seagulls!
Christian heading out to the water. He stayed near the shore more.
Matt and Courtney built a sandcastle in the afternoon.
All four kids at the ocean.
Micah by the sandcastle. It was so much fun watching the tide come up over the afternoon. We knew it would soon wreck the sand castle!
The water was coming up, so Christian and Micah started to wreck it.
And that is the end of the sand castle...
Matt and Micah walking around on the beach.
After ice cream, we walked around the town a bit. Here is Christian in front of a ship. There was actually a restaurant on the ship.
What a cute little town!
We had a fun day!! This was the furthest east we got on our trip. It was time to start moving west!
The girls and Matt actually got up at 5:10 am that morning to go see the sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean, but it didn't go as well as they planned. They didn't quite know where to go to watch the sun rise over the ocean.
After they got back, we thought it would be fun to do some hiking and other touristy stuff in the morning and then spend the afternoon in the beach. Everything that looked fun or exciting cost money or was too far away, so we just headed to the beach in the morning. We didn't take our swimsuits or anything, but just let the kids wade in the water in their clothes.
Christian on our way to the beach in the morning.
All four kids with their feet in the Atlantic Ocean!!
After we played in the water awhile, we decided to get lunch. A man at our campground recommended a place called "Ramp Up," so we headed over there. Unfortunately, meals were about $15 a person, so we headed to Subway instead. It looks like it would have been a fun place to eat!
Now we were ready to swim in the ocean!! Matt said this was his favorite day of the entire trip!
Matt and Megan playing in the waves.
Courtney's turn. I didn't want more than one kid out there at a time. I wanted him to be able to keep an eye on them.
Micah LOVED chasing the seagulls!
Christian heading out to the water. He stayed near the shore more.
Matt and Courtney built a sandcastle in the afternoon.
All four kids at the ocean.
Micah by the sandcastle. It was so much fun watching the tide come up over the afternoon. We knew it would soon wreck the sand castle!
The water was coming up, so Christian and Micah started to wreck it.
And that is the end of the sand castle...
Matt and Micah walking around on the beach.
Of course, we had to stop at a local establishment for ice cream after our afternoon at the beach. Kennebunkport was famous for their many ice cream places.
After ice cream, we walked around the town a bit. Here is Christian in front of a ship. There was actually a restaurant on the ship.
What a cute little town!
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