Last night it was about 10:45 and Megan came into our room crying. She had already gotten to bed late, but now she couldn't breathe! She was trying to blow her nose, but as she was saying, everything was "stuck" and she couldn't sleep.
I asked her if she wanted some medicine because honestly, I wanted to sleep too. I don't like giving medicine, but I didn't know how else to remedy the situation. I found some kids' decongestant and gave her the 2 teaspoons and sent her back to bed.
Then I flipped the bottle over and read the ingredients! I had just given my child everything I have been trying to avoid in our diets! Red dye, blue dye, high fructose corn syrup, and citric acid, just to name a few!
Where can I get more natural decongestant for kids??
I may need to throw that bottle of decongestant out just like I did the canola oil the other day!!
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Monday, June 9, 2014
Is school done yet?
School, school, school, when will we finish??
I made an executive decision today. We are not going to do any school this week.
Here is what we have left:
Megan- type research paper, 18 lessons of math, 5 lessons of English
Courtney- one lesson in spelling, 16 lessons of math, 10 lessons of phonics.
And yes, I want to get done, BUT this week is super busy! Remember how I want to try to balance summer fun with school, well, this week, summer fun won!
We have Bible school every day this week from 9-12 am. Matt and I also decided that we are going to go camping on Wednesday, so this means I need time to pack the camper. Wouldn't the afternoons be a great time to get this done?? This would be the time that I would need to get school work accomplished. I figure we can't really do both, so packing to go camping won out this week.
So I made the decision to stall school until next week!! Next week, we will have school in the morning again and play in the afternoon! Hopefully we will get these last lessons done before August!!!
I made an executive decision today. We are not going to do any school this week.
Here is what we have left:
Megan- type research paper, 18 lessons of math, 5 lessons of English
Courtney- one lesson in spelling, 16 lessons of math, 10 lessons of phonics.
And yes, I want to get done, BUT this week is super busy! Remember how I want to try to balance summer fun with school, well, this week, summer fun won!
We have Bible school every day this week from 9-12 am. Matt and I also decided that we are going to go camping on Wednesday, so this means I need time to pack the camper. Wouldn't the afternoons be a great time to get this done?? This would be the time that I would need to get school work accomplished. I figure we can't really do both, so packing to go camping won out this week.
So I made the decision to stall school until next week!! Next week, we will have school in the morning again and play in the afternoon! Hopefully we will get these last lessons done before August!!!
Saturday, June 7, 2014
Summer Reading Programs
I have a different opinion when it comes to summer reading programs. First of all, I think they are great! Really, I do! Especially for those kids who need an incentive to read during the summer. But the last couple of years, I have sort of changed my opinion about them when it comes to my own kids and how I want to motivate them to read over the summer.
The problem is that my children do not need an incentive to read all summer! Sometimes I have to make Megan put down a book and get her outside to exercise a little!!! But I still would like to have them working towards something during the summer months.
A couple of years ago, I signed my kids up for the summer reading program at the library. We read and recorded every book we went through during the summer. By the time the summer was over, Megan had read over 60 books (they were probably not chapter books like they were now), but still it was a significant number. The problem was that after 30 books, you got the same prize over and over again! This wasn't any fun, plus at that time, it was a sheet of coupons to places we never went OR we had to spend an extra $50 for us to get in so the kids could use their free coupon they had earned (free entrance to CoCo Keys or a free baseball ticket).
Ever since that summer, I haven't signed my kids up at the library. As much as I want to, they remember those coupon sheets and didn't think it was very fun. As summer was approaching this year, I started seeing some different summer reading programs around the area. One that stuck out to me was the one offered at Half Price Book Stores. Here, the students get a $5 gift card for every 300 minutes you read in June and July. I would much rather them get money to spend on books than a prize from the library, which are badges this year!
We stumbled another reading program last week. We were over at Barnes and Nobles and an employee came up to me and started to tell me about their summer reading program. The kids had to read 8 books, log them, bring their sheet back in, and then they would receive a new book. Guess what we did today? Took our log sheets back in! Courtney sat in the kitchen after lunch and read 8 books in a row and wrote them all down. Megan wrote down all the books she has read in the last week. We went back to Barnes and Nobles today and received their free book! It was not such a hard challenge!
Again, I think reading programs are great, especially for those kids who need motivation to keep reading all summer, but I really think you just need to find the right one that will work with your children! I also needed one that will challenge my kids a little bit. Reading eight books was not a challenge, but I know to some kids, it is.
The problem is that my children do not need an incentive to read all summer! Sometimes I have to make Megan put down a book and get her outside to exercise a little!!! But I still would like to have them working towards something during the summer months.
A couple of years ago, I signed my kids up for the summer reading program at the library. We read and recorded every book we went through during the summer. By the time the summer was over, Megan had read over 60 books (they were probably not chapter books like they were now), but still it was a significant number. The problem was that after 30 books, you got the same prize over and over again! This wasn't any fun, plus at that time, it was a sheet of coupons to places we never went OR we had to spend an extra $50 for us to get in so the kids could use their free coupon they had earned (free entrance to CoCo Keys or a free baseball ticket).
Ever since that summer, I haven't signed my kids up at the library. As much as I want to, they remember those coupon sheets and didn't think it was very fun. As summer was approaching this year, I started seeing some different summer reading programs around the area. One that stuck out to me was the one offered at Half Price Book Stores. Here, the students get a $5 gift card for every 300 minutes you read in June and July. I would much rather them get money to spend on books than a prize from the library, which are badges this year!
We stumbled another reading program last week. We were over at Barnes and Nobles and an employee came up to me and started to tell me about their summer reading program. The kids had to read 8 books, log them, bring their sheet back in, and then they would receive a new book. Guess what we did today? Took our log sheets back in! Courtney sat in the kitchen after lunch and read 8 books in a row and wrote them all down. Megan wrote down all the books she has read in the last week. We went back to Barnes and Nobles today and received their free book! It was not such a hard challenge!
Again, I think reading programs are great, especially for those kids who need motivation to keep reading all summer, but I really think you just need to find the right one that will work with your children! I also needed one that will challenge my kids a little bit. Reading eight books was not a challenge, but I know to some kids, it is.
Thursday, June 5, 2014
Dentist Visit!
On Monday, we all went to the dentist and we all came out with ZERO cavities and good reports from our dentist! Christian even went for the first time and did great! I was right beside him (getting my own teeth cleaned) and I was listening to the hygienist work with him and he did everything she asked! I was amazed! (But he has gone with me the last 4 years and the last year or so, has watched me get my teeth cleaned.)
Megan has her 12 year molars already and they did the sealants on those. Courtney's teeth looked great too, they did a panoramic xray to make sure everything was where it was supposed to be and they were! I am happy with that!
Our dentist came and checked my teeth out and said all my restorations and crown looked good yet, then as he was walking out, he said, "You'll have to do something with your bite eventually." I mentioned to him that that I knew my options, but I don't just know what to do. I can either 1. get Invisalign and line my teeth up or 2. go ahead with oral surgery, break my jaw, and line my teeth up with braces. Again, he tried to convince me that Invisalign would be the way to go. He said if it was him, he would try the more conservative option first. He said there is always a risk with surgery (nerves, infection) and there is none of that with Iinvisalign. I told him I was concerned because after talking to the oral surgeon, he said there was no guarantee that Invisalign would work, he also couldn't guarantee surgery would work!
My dentist knows the situation I am in, so he offered me a deal he has never made anyone else. He said I could come in and get the molds done on my teeth and send them into the company that makes Invisalign. From there, he would wait for them to send back information saying how my teeth would look at the end, how many trays I would need, and how long it would take. My dentist said he would do this without charging me! He said after we get that all back, THEN I could decide what I wanted to do. If I wanted to go ahead, then I would pay for everything. If not, then he is out time and money for the upfront costs.
My biggest concern with spending money on Invisalign is my insurance benefits. As of right now, I get a set amount of money that I can put toward orthodontics once in a lifetime. If I use it now, I cannot use it again to get braces (if I end up doing surgery later down the road.) What if Invisalign really messes me up and I have no choice but to do braces and surgery? Then I have to pay for braces out of my pocket! It's another chance I take!
I agree with him 100% that Invisalign would straighten my teeth, but does it solve my jaw problem?? No, it does not. Do I want to continue to deteriorate my teeth because they hit each other at the wrong places? Do I want to continue to deteriorate my jaw joint because of my bad bite?? Can I get by with straightening my teeth and leaving my jaw alone? Maybe, I certainly don't want to have surgery!
So I guess we will go forth with his offer and see what they can do!
Megan has her 12 year molars already and they did the sealants on those. Courtney's teeth looked great too, they did a panoramic xray to make sure everything was where it was supposed to be and they were! I am happy with that!
Our dentist came and checked my teeth out and said all my restorations and crown looked good yet, then as he was walking out, he said, "You'll have to do something with your bite eventually." I mentioned to him that that I knew my options, but I don't just know what to do. I can either 1. get Invisalign and line my teeth up or 2. go ahead with oral surgery, break my jaw, and line my teeth up with braces. Again, he tried to convince me that Invisalign would be the way to go. He said if it was him, he would try the more conservative option first. He said there is always a risk with surgery (nerves, infection) and there is none of that with Iinvisalign. I told him I was concerned because after talking to the oral surgeon, he said there was no guarantee that Invisalign would work, he also couldn't guarantee surgery would work!
My dentist knows the situation I am in, so he offered me a deal he has never made anyone else. He said I could come in and get the molds done on my teeth and send them into the company that makes Invisalign. From there, he would wait for them to send back information saying how my teeth would look at the end, how many trays I would need, and how long it would take. My dentist said he would do this without charging me! He said after we get that all back, THEN I could decide what I wanted to do. If I wanted to go ahead, then I would pay for everything. If not, then he is out time and money for the upfront costs.
My biggest concern with spending money on Invisalign is my insurance benefits. As of right now, I get a set amount of money that I can put toward orthodontics once in a lifetime. If I use it now, I cannot use it again to get braces (if I end up doing surgery later down the road.) What if Invisalign really messes me up and I have no choice but to do braces and surgery? Then I have to pay for braces out of my pocket! It's another chance I take!
I agree with him 100% that Invisalign would straighten my teeth, but does it solve my jaw problem?? No, it does not. Do I want to continue to deteriorate my teeth because they hit each other at the wrong places? Do I want to continue to deteriorate my jaw joint because of my bad bite?? Can I get by with straightening my teeth and leaving my jaw alone? Maybe, I certainly don't want to have surgery!
So I guess we will go forth with his offer and see what they can do!
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
Another food experiment
I have been wanting to cook with coconut flour for awhile, but I can't eat eggs and you need to use quite a few eggs when cooking with coconut flour! I finally found that I can replace the eggs with chia seeds, so I am going to attempt banana coconut muffins this morning for breakfast!
I am going to use one of these two recipes:
http://glutenfreecooking.about.com/od/glutenfreemuffinrecipes/r/Gluten-Free-Banana-Coconut-Muffins-With-Coconut-Flour.htm
http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/coconut-flour-banana-muffins
Just a note: The second recipe FAILED!! I can't seem to make muffins lately that have bananas in them. They cook on the outside, but the inside is still gooey! I don't know what I am doing wrong!
I am going to use one of these two recipes:
http://glutenfreecooking.about.com/od/glutenfreemuffinrecipes/r/Gluten-Free-Banana-Coconut-Muffins-With-Coconut-Flour.htm
http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/coconut-flour-banana-muffins
Just a note: The second recipe FAILED!! I can't seem to make muffins lately that have bananas in them. They cook on the outside, but the inside is still gooey! I don't know what I am doing wrong!
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Baby Birds
Of all the things Courtney was worried about as the storms blew through tonight, her biggest concern was the baby birds that have made their home in their nest above our garage. We have been keeping an eye on them for a couple of weeks now and when one fell out of its nest last week, Courtney was the first to notice and made sure Matt put him right back in!
So tonight when she heard about the strong winds, hail, and possibly tornadoes, she wanted to save the baby birds from the storm! I mentioned that maybe we should bring the nest inside, but Matt insisted that the nest needs to stay out with the mama, otherwise she may not know where her babies went! He is absolutely right!
Every time there was a break between storms, Courtney wanted to go outside and check on the baby birds! I love it that she is so concerned about those little creatures!!! Oh and if there was a tornado, you can make sure that we would have had to take James to the basement with us again! (That is her pet beta fish!)
So tonight when she heard about the strong winds, hail, and possibly tornadoes, she wanted to save the baby birds from the storm! I mentioned that maybe we should bring the nest inside, but Matt insisted that the nest needs to stay out with the mama, otherwise she may not know where her babies went! He is absolutely right!
Every time there was a break between storms, Courtney wanted to go outside and check on the baby birds! I love it that she is so concerned about those little creatures!!! Oh and if there was a tornado, you can make sure that we would have had to take James to the basement with us again! (That is her pet beta fish!)
Lesson on Blood!
I have decided that tomorrow we are going to finish our Sonlight lesson plans. I started looking at the calendar for the next two weeks and knew we weren't going to be able to get anymore done in regards to history, read-alouds, language arts, and science. We are going to keep pushing forward in math and English/ phonics until it is DONE!
So anyway, our lesson tomorrow in science is on blood! The next lesson after this is on the heart, which will have to wait until we start school back up in the fall. :(
Anyway, I wanted to find something online to represent our blood and it's components and I found something!
We are going to do this little demonstration tomorrow.
http://mymontessorijourney.typepad.com/my_montessori_journey/2009/03/parts-of-the-blood.html
We are also going to use some coloring sheets from this website to talk about the parts of our blood first.
http://www.spelloutloud.com/human-body-learning-about-blood.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+spelloutloud/RoXZ+(Spell+Out+Loud)&utm_content=Yahoo!+Mail
After we do this, we are going to talk about our veins and arteries and watch this video.
http://www.aboutkidshealth.ca/En/JustForKids/Body/Pages/Heart.aspx
Finally, we are going to talk about clots and scabs and how our platelets work.
I think it will be a fun day!
So anyway, our lesson tomorrow in science is on blood! The next lesson after this is on the heart, which will have to wait until we start school back up in the fall. :(
Anyway, I wanted to find something online to represent our blood and it's components and I found something!
We are going to do this little demonstration tomorrow.
http://mymontessorijourney.typepad.com/my_montessori_journey/2009/03/parts-of-the-blood.html
We are also going to use some coloring sheets from this website to talk about the parts of our blood first.
http://www.spelloutloud.com/human-body-learning-about-blood.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+spelloutloud/RoXZ+(Spell+Out+Loud)&utm_content=Yahoo!+Mail
After we do this, we are going to talk about our veins and arteries and watch this video.
http://www.aboutkidshealth.ca/En/JustForKids/Body/Pages/Heart.aspx
Finally, we are going to talk about clots and scabs and how our platelets work.
I think it will be a fun day!
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