It is 5:30 am and I hear this from Christian, "Mommy, come cover me up!" And he's not asking nicely, he just yells from his bed. I decide not to reply because I am still half asleep. I hear it again, "Mommy, come cover me up!" Do I yell back or go cover him back up and not wake anybody else up??
Yet one more time, "Mommy, come cover me up!" I pull myself out of bed and go in there and tell him to stop yelling! I cover him up and say, "Now go back to sleep! It's still bed time!! "
Not even five minutes later, I heard, "Mommy, I have to go potty!" Again, yelling to me!
I yell back, "Then go. You know where it is!" I am not getting back out of bed!
He comes into my room and goes to the bathroom. He comes out and comes to the side of my bed and very nicely asks, "Can you cover me back up again?"
AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(And I never did get back to sleep! Of course, he did!)
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Who else does this??
I saw this article and it made me laugh.
http://www.eatright.org/kids/tip.aspx?id=6442465420
The title is "Say no to cookie dough" and it talks about no matter how good the cookie dough is, there is always a risk of eating raw eggs. It says not to lick the beaters or spoons and wait until the cookies are fully baked before digging in. Yep, I know this and I know there is a risk of getting sick, BUT come on, who else does NOT listen to this warning and eats the cookie dough anyway?? I thought so...:)
Makes me want to go make some now...too bad I can't have cocoa anymore. But who says I just can't make the dough and enjoy that....
PS If you make the cookies with flaxseed instead of eggs, you don't have to worry about getting sick!!!
http://www.eatright.org/kids/tip.aspx?id=6442465420
The title is "Say no to cookie dough" and it talks about no matter how good the cookie dough is, there is always a risk of eating raw eggs. It says not to lick the beaters or spoons and wait until the cookies are fully baked before digging in. Yep, I know this and I know there is a risk of getting sick, BUT come on, who else does NOT listen to this warning and eats the cookie dough anyway?? I thought so...:)
Makes me want to go make some now...too bad I can't have cocoa anymore. But who says I just can't make the dough and enjoy that....
PS If you make the cookies with flaxseed instead of eggs, you don't have to worry about getting sick!!!
Monday, April 28, 2014
Chef Christian!
Lately, I think "Chef Christian" thinks he really knows what he is doing in the kitchen.
Today I was trying to go over math with Megan and Courtney was being relentless about having a snack. She kept picking sugary snacks and I am really trying to cut her back on them. She kept throwing out ideas right in the middle of the lesson and I was getting a little irritated at all the interruptions. Finally she decided that she was going to make an egg in the microwave and she was going to do it herself!
I knew she couldn't do it herself, so I said that she HAD to wait for me to finish with Megan and THEN I could help her, so she did. Finally, I finished math and I started helping Courtney with her egg.
No sooner had I done that, then I turn around and see Christian standing by the stove. He had the little skillet on the burner that we use for scrambled eggs and he was cracking himself an egg into the pan!!! AHHH!
I finished with Courtney, helped Christian, and they all had their eggs!! I think I need to teach a little patience in this house!! Luckily Christian cannot reach to turn the burner on, but I bet he would've done that too!!
And yes, he does have an apron he wears when he helps me cook!! And he loves it!
Today I was trying to go over math with Megan and Courtney was being relentless about having a snack. She kept picking sugary snacks and I am really trying to cut her back on them. She kept throwing out ideas right in the middle of the lesson and I was getting a little irritated at all the interruptions. Finally she decided that she was going to make an egg in the microwave and she was going to do it herself!
I knew she couldn't do it herself, so I said that she HAD to wait for me to finish with Megan and THEN I could help her, so she did. Finally, I finished math and I started helping Courtney with her egg.
No sooner had I done that, then I turn around and see Christian standing by the stove. He had the little skillet on the burner that we use for scrambled eggs and he was cracking himself an egg into the pan!!! AHHH!
I finished with Courtney, helped Christian, and they all had their eggs!! I think I need to teach a little patience in this house!! Luckily Christian cannot reach to turn the burner on, but I bet he would've done that too!!
And yes, he does have an apron he wears when he helps me cook!! And he loves it!
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Learning and knowledge!
Awhile ago, Megan and Matt must have watched a scientific movie about learning and knowledge on Netflix. Megan had learned that when you learn something, your neurons connect and make a synapse. When that same piece of information comes up again later, you connect it back to that original connection and keep building on that knowledge. (I believe this is called a priori knowledge, but I could be wrong.)
Today as we were driving down "L" Street, she was telling me about this. I remember studying this concept in my education classes, so I was trying to tell her about it too. I told her that this is how babies learn, they're little brains are connecting neurons right and left when they are young. Then as they grow, they keep building on those original synapses in their brains. But it doesn't just apply to babies. The same thing happens when children and adults learn, they are also building synapses in their brains.
As we were driving, my very curious Christian was looking out the window and asked me what the certain flowers were that were growing in the grass. I said, "Those are dandelions, Christian." He thought a minute and then said, "Like in my Thomas Book!" (He has a seek and find Thomas the train book and one of the things you have to find is a dandelion.)
I looked back and Megan and said, "See how this works. Christian noticed the dandelions in the ditch and then thought back to where he has seen them before, he went to those connected neurons that told him that he had seen them in his Thomas book. Does that makes sense?" She said it did!
I thought that was about perfect timing for that conversation! I can't wait to study the brain in a couple of days with my girls!
Today as we were driving down "L" Street, she was telling me about this. I remember studying this concept in my education classes, so I was trying to tell her about it too. I told her that this is how babies learn, they're little brains are connecting neurons right and left when they are young. Then as they grow, they keep building on those original synapses in their brains. But it doesn't just apply to babies. The same thing happens when children and adults learn, they are also building synapses in their brains.
As we were driving, my very curious Christian was looking out the window and asked me what the certain flowers were that were growing in the grass. I said, "Those are dandelions, Christian." He thought a minute and then said, "Like in my Thomas Book!" (He has a seek and find Thomas the train book and one of the things you have to find is a dandelion.)
I looked back and Megan and said, "See how this works. Christian noticed the dandelions in the ditch and then thought back to where he has seen them before, he went to those connected neurons that told him that he had seen them in his Thomas book. Does that makes sense?" She said it did!
I thought that was about perfect timing for that conversation! I can't wait to study the brain in a couple of days with my girls!
New Unit in Science!
After a nice three day weekend, I am ready to get back to school tomorrow! I am kind of excited because we are starting a new unit in science. We are going to be studying the human body for the next 10 weeks! I have so many books on my desk right now about the human body, so many projects we can do, so many that I know we won't be able to do everything!!
We are going to be working through this book.
It is another Usborne book and of course!
Tomorrow we start with a page talking about cells, the different cell shapes, how cells make up our body parts, how those body parts make our systems!! Wow! All that in one day!
Of course, I could find something hands on to do with each of those topics, but I decided to focus in on cells tomorrow. Last year when we studied the human body, we made jello and then found candy to represent the parts of a cell and it did not work out so well!
This year, we are not going to make an edible cell, but we are going to simplify it some more. I copied off a diagram of a cell off of enchantedlearning.com, along with definitions of each part. After we talk about these, we are going to make our own diagrams, but on construction paper! Here is my goal:
http://sayitrahshay.com/tbccrafters-go-nuclear/
I am going to set the girls up in the play room where all the craft supplies are. I will help them draw out a cell, but then let them figure out themselves what craft supplies they would like to use to represent the different cell parts. Hopefully it will look like the one on the website!
This will probably take awhile!
I would also like to go over the different systems in the body, but I may need to do that on Tuesday! Luckily, we have been spreading science out across two weeks, so I can add another short project if I want on one of those extra days!
Another goal I have with this unit is to have a lifesize model of themselves. I found a roll of white paper today at Michaels that is big enough that we can trace their bodies onto. When this is done, I want to hang it up on their doors and then as we study parts of the body, we can add them onto ourselves. Make sense? I am even going to let Christian participate in this! (I found a couple of books at the homeschooling convention of body parts that I can just copy and then they can glue it on their bodies.)
Like I said, so many projects, not near enough time! And we are only going to get about two or three weeks into our body unit when we are going to break for summer!
Saturday, April 26, 2014
This new diet is HARD!!
Can I just say that I am having a hard time on my new food restrictions! It is almost harder than the first time I did this! I have been thinking about this for about a week and watching what I have been eating, but it is getting very frustrating!
1. My first challenge is to battle my yeast problem. This was a 3 on my allergy test, so that means I need to do everything to stop eating any yeast or anything that feeds yeast. This is easier said than done!!
The problem now is that I need to take out ALL sugar- this does not just include "table sugar", but also anything like sugar or artificial sugar. This does include all high fructose corn syrup (which I had taken out when I was off of corn for awhile), real maple syrup, honey (which showed up on my allergy tests), brown sugar, and all sorts of organic sugar. All I am left with is stevia and that is super-hard to cook with!! And honestly, it doesn't have that "sweet" factor! (good bye cereal, brown sugar on oatmeal, sugar in baked goods, etc.)
Not only do I need to take out sugar, I also have to take out anything with vinegar because it is fermented with yeast. This includes ketchup, mustard, any salad dressing, and any canned beans!! (good bye sloppy joes, salads, canned beans that I use for chili, and baked beans)
Citric Acid is another one I am having trouble with in regards to yeast. It is in many canned tomatoes...good bye chili and spaghetti sauce. :(
Of course, fruit also includes natural sugar, so I have to take that out too. But some fruits have more sugar than others (bananas are really high), so maybe I can eat the low sugar fruits? My other problem is that some fruits are more susceptible to mold than others and I definitely need to avoid those. These would be the ones that might by moldy by the time you get home from the store, such as berries and grapes. And we need to throw all fruit juices into this category! None for me...
I also have to say good-bye to dried fruit, such as raisins and craisins...again, too much sugar and since raisins come from grapes, they are susceptible to mold.
Another problem is sodium nitrate. I'm not sure what is wrong with this, but I am assuming it has something to do with yeast. Good-bye lunch meat, bacon, ham and any other cured meat.
No pop either, which I didn't drink a lot of, but when I did, it was super good! (It is mostly made out of high fructose corn syrup anyway.)
I got the ok to go back on cow's milk (my numbers went down), but unfortunately, I cannot have any cheese. Apparently I shouldn't drink cow's milk either because of the lactose, which is the sugar in the milk.
I still need to keep peanuts out of my diet (moldy) and any baked goods that use baker's yeast. I haven't had any of these for about two years, so this is not a big change.
I need to continue to keep any gluten flours out of my diet. Again, I have not had gluten in about two years, but some how my numbers have gone UP, so I am getting it somewhere. I need to be more diligent about buying "gluten-free" products.
One more item that I will probably need to cut out is my gluten-free crackers I buy at Sam's. I believe these contain soy sauce and I need to cut that out too. I don't have any here at the moment, so I will need to check the ingredients when I go to Sam's next.
2. In addition to all these foods, I should probably cut out the foods that came up as "ones" on my allergy test. These include cashews, cocoa, white fish, lemon, lettuce, green peas, peaches, pears, black pepper, sunflower (kind of oil used for potatoes chips), tomatoes, turkey, asparagus, beef, honey, and oranges.
Now if I didn't think this food diet would work, I totally wouldn't do it!!! What is there left to eat?? Do you see my struggle?? BUT I know it does work! My numbers went down on quite a lot of the foods that I have take out the last two years (chicken, cow's milk, eggs, garlic, and pork). But they also went up on a lot of the foods that I have ate a lot of the last two years!!! Some other ones stayed about the same.
So anyway, any thoughts for supper??? Veggies anyone??
1. My first challenge is to battle my yeast problem. This was a 3 on my allergy test, so that means I need to do everything to stop eating any yeast or anything that feeds yeast. This is easier said than done!!
The problem now is that I need to take out ALL sugar- this does not just include "table sugar", but also anything like sugar or artificial sugar. This does include all high fructose corn syrup (which I had taken out when I was off of corn for awhile), real maple syrup, honey (which showed up on my allergy tests), brown sugar, and all sorts of organic sugar. All I am left with is stevia and that is super-hard to cook with!! And honestly, it doesn't have that "sweet" factor! (good bye cereal, brown sugar on oatmeal, sugar in baked goods, etc.)
Not only do I need to take out sugar, I also have to take out anything with vinegar because it is fermented with yeast. This includes ketchup, mustard, any salad dressing, and any canned beans!! (good bye sloppy joes, salads, canned beans that I use for chili, and baked beans)
Citric Acid is another one I am having trouble with in regards to yeast. It is in many canned tomatoes...good bye chili and spaghetti sauce. :(
Of course, fruit also includes natural sugar, so I have to take that out too. But some fruits have more sugar than others (bananas are really high), so maybe I can eat the low sugar fruits? My other problem is that some fruits are more susceptible to mold than others and I definitely need to avoid those. These would be the ones that might by moldy by the time you get home from the store, such as berries and grapes. And we need to throw all fruit juices into this category! None for me...
I also have to say good-bye to dried fruit, such as raisins and craisins...again, too much sugar and since raisins come from grapes, they are susceptible to mold.
Another problem is sodium nitrate. I'm not sure what is wrong with this, but I am assuming it has something to do with yeast. Good-bye lunch meat, bacon, ham and any other cured meat.
No pop either, which I didn't drink a lot of, but when I did, it was super good! (It is mostly made out of high fructose corn syrup anyway.)
I got the ok to go back on cow's milk (my numbers went down), but unfortunately, I cannot have any cheese. Apparently I shouldn't drink cow's milk either because of the lactose, which is the sugar in the milk.
I still need to keep peanuts out of my diet (moldy) and any baked goods that use baker's yeast. I haven't had any of these for about two years, so this is not a big change.
I need to continue to keep any gluten flours out of my diet. Again, I have not had gluten in about two years, but some how my numbers have gone UP, so I am getting it somewhere. I need to be more diligent about buying "gluten-free" products.
One more item that I will probably need to cut out is my gluten-free crackers I buy at Sam's. I believe these contain soy sauce and I need to cut that out too. I don't have any here at the moment, so I will need to check the ingredients when I go to Sam's next.
2. In addition to all these foods, I should probably cut out the foods that came up as "ones" on my allergy test. These include cashews, cocoa, white fish, lemon, lettuce, green peas, peaches, pears, black pepper, sunflower (kind of oil used for potatoes chips), tomatoes, turkey, asparagus, beef, honey, and oranges.
Now if I didn't think this food diet would work, I totally wouldn't do it!!! What is there left to eat?? Do you see my struggle?? BUT I know it does work! My numbers went down on quite a lot of the foods that I have take out the last two years (chicken, cow's milk, eggs, garlic, and pork). But they also went up on a lot of the foods that I have ate a lot of the last two years!!! Some other ones stayed about the same.
So anyway, any thoughts for supper??? Veggies anyone??
Homeschooling article
I saw this on Facebook today and it peaked my interest. The title of the blog is "Behold: the two absolutely worst arguments against homeschooling." As a homeschooler myself who have seen my kids thrive at home, I was curious as to what these two arguments were, so I went ahead and posted it here on my blog.
http://themattwalshblog.com/2014/04/25/behold-the-two-absolutely-worst-arguments-against-homeschooling/
Matt Walsh, the author of the blog, receives letters and once a week, he answers them. This blog is one of those letters about a parent who is obviously against homeschooling and Matt defends his points for homeschooling. It is very interesting!!
In a nutshell, the first arguments says, "What we need in public schools in parental involvement. When you pull your kids out of school, then there is no parental involvement and then our schools suffer." The author, Matt Walsh, responds that our kids are not there for the sake "of the system." Our kids are important to us and we need to do what is right for our family, not for the sake of the "system".
The second arguments is the everlasting socialization question! The person who wrote the letter wonders how our children will ever learn "proper" socialization if they don't go to public school! He states public schools gives young people a chance to be well-adjusted adults!!! Matt Walsh responds very nicely to this one and pretty much says, "Have you seen the public school kids lately?? Are they becoming well-adjusted adults by learning socialization in our schools??" I love it that my kids can socialize with every age and every grade level. They are not afraid to talk to adults and I can foster this by homeschooling them. No, we aren't perfect, but it is definitely a work in progress.
http://themattwalshblog.com/2014/04/25/behold-the-two-absolutely-worst-arguments-against-homeschooling/
Matt Walsh, the author of the blog, receives letters and once a week, he answers them. This blog is one of those letters about a parent who is obviously against homeschooling and Matt defends his points for homeschooling. It is very interesting!!
In a nutshell, the first arguments says, "What we need in public schools in parental involvement. When you pull your kids out of school, then there is no parental involvement and then our schools suffer." The author, Matt Walsh, responds that our kids are not there for the sake "of the system." Our kids are important to us and we need to do what is right for our family, not for the sake of the "system".
The second arguments is the everlasting socialization question! The person who wrote the letter wonders how our children will ever learn "proper" socialization if they don't go to public school! He states public schools gives young people a chance to be well-adjusted adults!!! Matt Walsh responds very nicely to this one and pretty much says, "Have you seen the public school kids lately?? Are they becoming well-adjusted adults by learning socialization in our schools??" I love it that my kids can socialize with every age and every grade level. They are not afraid to talk to adults and I can foster this by homeschooling them. No, we aren't perfect, but it is definitely a work in progress.
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