Urgent Prayers Need for a Toddler

There is a toddler in our church (under 2 yrs of age) that is the in the hospital for Type I Diabetes. His parents (Denny and Shanna) took him to the doctors and found out he was Diabetic, if they had not taken him, he would be in diabetic coma. His blood sugar levels were over 660, over 6 times what it should be for a child that age. Please keep this little one in your prayers and his family too. I will keep you posted as I found out news.

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UPDATE: The little boy might have been able to go home yesterday. This family is in urgent need of your prayers. They have 4 other children, they are concerned about insurance costs. He will have to receive insulin via shots, the mom is concerned about the caregiver of the little boy as she is afraid of needles. Please pray that God give her the peace to be able to do this for the little boy and that the insurance costs aren't to overwhelming. I will keep you updated as I find out more.

Why Is It????

Why is it that as soon as people hear the words "We Homeschool", they look at you like you are an alien from outer space? They instantaneously judge you and think you are a weirdo for wanting to homeschool. I hear comments all the time like "He wont be socialized", "What about College?", "Won't he miss out on the "normal" things", "How will he make friends his age", "Why don't you cut the apron strings and let him go to real life school?" and so many more. Yes, he is socialized probably far better than most kids his age. He is able to interact with people of all ages, not just children his age. Yes, he can and will go to college. Homeschool Children get High School Credits and Diploma's just like those who attend public and private schools. And guess what, they get to have a real graduation too. "Normal" things, not quite sure what is meant by this statement but if it means do I want my son going to school every day having his back pack checked and sent through a metal detector just to get into the school building...then NO I don't want him to go through those "Normal" things. If by "Normal" things, they mean introduced to drugs, bullies and peer pressure by 4 yrs old, then NO I don't want those "Normal" things for him either. If "Normal" things means having lables slapped on him by adults who are suppose to their to guide them through the most important time of their life, then NO I don't want that for him either. Now please don't get me wrong, not all public and private schools are bad, there are great ones out there ( I do feel that the public school system as a whole though is in great need of a major over haul). Not saying that there aren't any locally either, just saying that I choose to educate my son at home....where he isn't just learning Reading, Writing and Arithmetic, he is learning about God (no I don't believe that it is the churches place either to be responsible to "educate" my son in Christianity....where in the Bible does that say that....it is us, as their parents, responsibility souly to do that....church is a corner stone in that foundation of Christianity that you are helping your child build), Family Foundations, Good Ethics, A adventurous love for learning, Freedom to learn what they want and how they want, Freedom to learn they way they want (and if necessary, in a way that is souly individualized for them and their learning style), and most of all being Loved and Guided by a adult who truly loves and cares for them and their what their future will hold for them. As for making friends his own age, he has plenty of them through Homeschool Co-op, Kindermusik, Bowling League, Monart, Church and various other activities we do with him. It's not like we have him locked up in the house 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Yes, I am well aware of the fact that some homeschool families are very strict about interaction and so forth. But do not judge me and the fact that I choose to homeschool, based on them. Just like I don't children who are public or privately schooled, to be hellions, rebels, wild uncontrollable children. I know some great children who are in public school as I speak. I love them for who they are not how they are educated. We have just educated ourselves, looked at all the options, prayed about where and what God had in store for us in the means of Education and went where He led us. I live in a country where this is a FREEDOM, it is My CHOICE not that of those around me. This is a FREEDOM I am grateful for each and every day. I do not take this FREEDOM light and neither does any of the homeschooling families I personally know. Each of us have chosen to homeschool because that is what God has called us to do for our children and our families. As for "cutting the apron strings" I think I just answered that question. My son, is not going to be any less of a man when he grows up because he was homeschooled by his Mom, I pray that homeschooling him will make him that much better of a Man and a stronger Christian.

My Baby's 5 today!

Well it is official, Edward is 5 yrs old. I want to cry. The time just seems to be flying by. Of course the last 48 hours, I have been going through my typical where I was and what was happening at the time of his birth mode that I do every year. He had a wonderful birthday party this past Saturday at the zoo with his friend (my laptop is down so pictures might take a while to follow). Today his Grandma (who is here from WA state to share his birthday week with him), his daddy, myself and Edward will be having an all day party to celebrate him. God truly blessed us with a miracle when he blessed us with Edward. I am ever so thankful that even with my PCOS that I was able to experience giving birth and that the product of that was my son, my blessing, my miracle, my gift from God. He was well worth the wait we had to endure. God knew the perfect time to send him to us, we love him so much and are able to enjoy him. THANK YOU GOD FOR EDWARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chef Edward

I got this cute little Personalized (it says Chef Edward) Chefs Jacket and hat online for Edward. He loves to help me cook and we watch cooking shows together all the time, so I thought it would be cute if he had his own Chefs Jacket and hat. We just got it today, so I wanted to take a picture before he got busy really cooking in it. Yes, this picture was taken in our new kitchen.

Rayon Blankets

This is just a little warning. I bought a beautiful rayon throw blanket for our guest room, due to all the dust from the construction I had to wash it. Well low and be hold, washing it in the machine caused it to leave little "duck" feathery things all over the rest of the bedding in the machine. Then when I put it in the dryer it over filled the lint trap about 6 times in the time it was in the dryer. I finally had to take it out and let it finish drying on it's own. I made the mistake of not reading the tag and treating it like any other blanket. It should have been washed on the hand wash cycle and then laid flat to dry (yeah who in the world does that with a blanket).

One Week Later...

Well it has been a week now since the house has officially become construction worker free. We have been busting butt to get things back into order around here, and I must say that it is coming along nicely....however slower that I would like. A dear friend from Church came on Saturday and helped for a good part of the day....bless her heart. It was very helpful and nice having the extra set of hands. Things defiantly will not be prefect for my mother in laws visit however I will not have to worry about her trying to squeeze down the stairs or tripping and falling on a box. Plus we will have somewhere to sit, that is a huge plus right now, and she now has a room to sleep in where she wont have to climb over boxes to get to the bed. I have been working on the living room all afternoon (since we got home from Kindermusik....could have gotten in 3 more hours on it, if it wasn't for that....but I LOVE Kindermusik class and so does Edward so it was worth the detour in the cleaning). Tomorrow is all the houses, as is Thrusday. I was able to put off the maids until Friday afternoon. Which is a huge plus. Trust me, we need them to get rid of this dust. I had Kirk take Edward to the park for a little while, poor thing has been cooped up in the house all day and is very restless. Edward and I were both so exhausted last night that we were in bed by 8:30pm and still slept until 9am. Granted I didn't sleep that well all night long...haven't been able to do that for some time now. My plan of attack is to get the frontroom, dining room (which is 75% less homeschool stuff now...moved most of it into what was left of the old kitchen....still need to get a good deal of it put away), and the kitchen all in order by Friday when the maids come. Edwards Bedroom, our Bedroom and new Theater/Playroom can wait until after grandma leaves. Will have to have the maids back again once the house is completely back together that is okay, want to get rid of all this yucky blucky dust. Well, the front room is calling my name, better get back to working on it. I promise after my Mother In Law comes there will be pictures of the finished areas....just dont want to ruin the suprise since she will be the first family member to see what we have done.

Time to get down and dirty

Well the construction is pretty much over with. Everyone is gone and it just back to me & Edward. I have been BUSY unpacking and finding places for everything in the kitchen and new playroom/theater room. I can say that the new bathroom is pretty much put together. I just have to cartons to unload for the bathroom and it is completed. I have all the cartons for the kitchen unloaded now too (just finished that a few minutes ago....felt I deserved a break). Still have things though in the kitchen to clean and put away. I still wish we would have rented one of those Pods, trust me, we will the next time we do any major construction. A friend from church is coming over tomorrow to help me out a little. That will be nice, at least I will have someone to chat with. I think we will conquer the school room and dining room, since most of the school stuff can now be moved into what is left of the old kitchen. Saturday the same little gal (a daughter of one of Kirk's co workers ) will be coming to help me. I am hoping that we will be able to finish up the playroom/theater room and Edward's bedroom. I am getting that. I have to have the whole house put back together by a week from tomorrow as I have The Maids coming in to do the deep yucky dusty cleaning work since I can't do it because of my asthma and allergies (have already been kicking up enough of that junk as it is). Kirk has been under the weather all week. I need him to get back to normal so we can empty the guest room of all the boxes from the old craftroom that is now the new washroom and help me take them up to the attic for the time being. We hope to in a couple of years redo the basement and turn it into a large craftroom for me, but until then most of it has to go up in the attic (unless it is heat and cold weather sensitive, then I have to find someplace else that is safe to put it for the time being). I can not wait for this house to get back to normal, sometimes I look at it and think it is never going to be that way again. This week is also hectic with Edwards schedule...he had Kindermusik this morning, he has his Homeschool Bowling League Awards ceremony tomorrow afternoon and we have blastball practice in the evening, then we have co-op and Monart class on Friday. Somewhere in all of this I need to get things ready for his birthday part that is a week from Saturday. Oie Vey where in the world has the time been flying too? Well that is about it in a nutshell.

Not Dealing With Life Well Right Now...DEPRESSED BIG TIME

Lately I haven't been dealing with life issues very well. To much here at home going on with the remodel and renovation (feeling overwhelmed), Kirk's mom is coming for a week, Edward's 5th Birthday Party is less than 2 weeks away, and then yesterday when I got to church I noticed someone was pregnant (or at least looked like they were...trust me it isn't that I am not exstactic and over joyed from them, I am...I am being selfish and demanding God tell me why it isn't me). Lately I find myself being overly selfishness and distrusting God that He knew and was doing what was right for our family when my heart wants something else so badly. It is so hard sometimes, I know I have to trust and have faith in God, even if the answer is no or later. It just seems that later isn't the answer either given time lines, and to be truthful it breaks my heart to think of Edward being an only child...I know one day (if the Lord doesn't come first) that Kirk and I will leave this earth and Edward will be all alone on it (I know of course he will have God to lean on and care for him). I know that one day he will marry and have a family of his own but he wont have siblings to love and support him, to remember his growing up times with or his parents specialness. I also see him around littler children and I see how much of a great big brother he would be and it breaks my heart that I can't give him that. I hate having PCOS. It sucks so much but I know that there is a reason for everything and it is all in God's plans for us. I think partly a lot of this has to do with Edwards birthday, the fact that he is getting older and how much of an age difference there would be between him and another child now. I just need to be thankful and grateful that God has given me Edward and quit dwelling on what probably will never be. I feel by not trusting that it will happen in God's timing or accepting that He might have already given us the answer in the form of No, that I am not be faithful in him. Does that make sense? Well, at least I got a good cry out of confessing and write this entry. It is so hard, I feel sometimes as if I am all alone and no one understands (especially family).

New Pics of Edward and I

These pictures were taken at The Picture People when we were up in WA state last month. They even had us sign a release so they could use the pictures in their studio as examples. I particularly do not care for the jumping on. My favorite is the second one. However everyone just seems to get a big kick out of the jumping one.

Coaching? ME?

Here is one for you, if you know me you know will know why this is so ironic, I will be coaching Edward's Blastball team this year. Yep, me! They couldn't get anyone to take the position (a whopping 4 weeks plus one practice). So because I said I would be willing to do it in a pinch, I get to be the lucky one. For those of you who don't know what Blastball is. It is an introduction to T-ball. The children hit a ball off the tee, and run to 1st base only. There is no other bases to run and every child gets one turn up to bat. Once the whole team has had a turn at bat, then you switch with the team in the outfield. You play for 45 minutes then the game is over. No score is kept it is just a great way to help little ones get used to batting off of a tee, playing outfield, and running to bases. The bases they run to honks. It is cute. Edwards birthday happens to fall just right so he was able to play this year and last. Next year though it will be T-ball if he wants to continue with baseball. The reason this is ironic (me, coaching) for those who don't know me, is because I don't like sports. My son bowls and I like that, we roller skate, ride bikes and go for walks but I am not a sports person, they aren't even allowed on in my house. However that is me (and well, Kirk too....except for boxing) and not Edward. He is too young to know what he will like, so we are encouraging him to try all different types of sports out. He has taken Swimming lessons (will continue with those this summer), played Blastball (2nd year this year of that), is on a bowling league (since June of 2006 basically). He will be trying Soccer out this summer at a week long soccer camp for an hour and a half a day for 5 days. I want him to try Tennis, but that might have to wait until next year. I am not so sure about football or wrestling (those of course will be sports he will try in a few years maybe). Basketball I am still trying to find out when he can try that one. I also want him to try a few different types of dance classes like tap and jazz. I know Kirk would like for him to give boxing a try when he is older. The only thing we will not let him try is Martial Arts unless we can find a class in that with a Christian Approach to the philosophy. Basically I want to give him the opportunity to try things then make up his own mind as to what he wants to pursue. The only thing that might not be an option is bowling because that is a Physical Education Credit for him in Homeschool. I take this approach with him on other things too, like food....just because I don't like it doesn't mean he wont.

There is a Light At the End of the Tunnel! PTL!!!!

I have a huge PRAISE THE LORD!!!! We have a light at the end of the construction/renovation tunnel. We are only DAYS, yep...that is right I said DAYS away from no more construction workers being here and getting our house back in order. A good thing too, my MIL is coming for Edward's 5th Birthday in just a few weeks. I have a ton of organizing, cleaning, putting things away in their "new home". I also have The Maids scheduled to come at the end of the month to get things clean, deeply clean. Let me tell you I have never seen so much dust. I am paying a couple of gals from Kirks work to come and help me put things away in the new kitchen. I spent this afternoon working on Edward's bedroom. I will continue with it tomorrow. Then move on to another room hopefully in the afternoon. I really need to work on our guest room, because right now there is no place for my poor MIL to sleep, as the room is wall to wall boxes from moving them from the craft room (now the new laundry room) to the guest room. So much to do and time is running out. Well it's off to bed I go. Have a great night.

A truly sweet sound

Edward has recently been singing to the radio that we hear daily (we are avaid listeners of K-Love) and even singing songs that he has been learning in Sunday School. A few of his favorites are This Is The Day and Petra's We Need Jesus are just a few. Hearing him sing these songs are the sweetest sounds to my ears. Hearing his praise and worship to the Lord is breath taking and truly moving.

Changing

Well after much thought and prayer, I am going to be utilizing a new curriculum this coming year for Edward. I am leaning towards Sonlight. I am also interested in learning more about the Weaver Interlock curriculum. I like the Sonlight one and real feel God has laid this curriculum heavy on my heart but I still want to look at the Weaver one before I make a final decision. Iam going to my first homeschool conference on the weekend of May 30th. I need to have down what I want and need so I can get the good deals. I am so excited about attending this year even if it will just be for the shopping portion of the conference. I hope that next year I will be able to go to some of the workshops.

Kirk's New Car

This is Kirk's new Jaguar. I teasingly tell him, he should get a personalized license plate that says Midlife Crisis (as you may or may not know he just turned 40 in Feb).

Our Other Babies

This is Bear (AKA Bear-Bear). He is our youngest. He just turned 6 in February. He is so sweet, though granted he isn't the brightest light bulb in the box. He does even temperament and is a easy going , laid back sort of guy. He is great with Edward and warns Edward a trillion times that he is pushing him to far before he will put Edward in his place. Bear is part Chow Chow and Wheaten Terrier. He is the only one of our "babies" that we didn't rescue. His was a planned "birth" so to speak. He recently took the position of the alpha dog (or at least does when Storm will let him) in the group. We have had Bear for 6 years as of this month.
This is Storm (AKA: Stormie Girl, Lil Girl, Sister, Stormie Mae). She is our Middle "child" of the 3. Trust me she has all the middle child qualities too. She just turned 10 yrs old. We aren't exactly sure when her birth date is but we figure it is sometime in Jan. She was rescued by a little old lady (who already had a house full of pets) when she was found wandering out in the street. The lady tried to find her owners but they never came forth, so she placed an adoption add in the local paper. We wanted a companion for Sebastian after we had to put our cat to sleep, so we made an appointment to visit Storm. I must say that Storm adopted Kirk, we actually were just looking at her. We had not really decided if we were going to take her or not, when we left she cried and kept trying to get to Kirk. Of course we are huge suckers and took her. Actually she is our best dog of the 3, she has had 1 accident in the house (and that was just recently when she was locked in and couldn't get out after hours of holding it...this was just at the beginning of all our construction and renovation on our house....she tried to tell me she needed out to go but I thought she was trying to get out so she could make one of her infamous houdini disappearing tricks....so I told her to go lay down and be quiet....I know bad MOMMY!!!) the entire time we have had her. She pottied trained Bear pretty much. She is afraid of vacuum cleaners. She is an extremely healthy dog. She does have "issues" where she is very needy for attention pretty much non stop. She recently has become a lap dog. She is two different kind of terrier mixes. She is a smart dog. Kirk says she looks like a bat without wings and that she is so ugly she is cute. She pretty much has maintained her puppy looks except for the white that is now creeping in around her face. We have actually had construction workers during our renovation and remodel say they want to take her home with them. Of course Edward will have none of this. Storm is his buddy. I think he likes her best now because she is small and he can manipulate her better than he can Bear and he would never try those things with Sebastian because they have an understanding between them. Storm will have been with us for 10 yrs as of this coming August.
This is Sebastian (AKA: Seb, Old Man, Fat Boy (granted he has lost some weight and is looking a ton slimmer here lately....2 weeks at a kennel with no table scraps or little boys around will do that to you.....maybe that is what I need to do to loose some weight). Sebastian is our oldest. We believe his birthday is somewhere around December. He just turned 11 yrs old. He was another rescued dog. He has become pretty docile with old age. He has a touch of Arthritis and has slowed down tremendously. He was found wandering in an apartment complex parking lot. The people who found him posted adds all over the apartment complex and even in the newspaper trying to find his owners. No one claimed him. They brought him by Kirks Work (the husband worked with Kirk) to see if anyone wanted him. Let me tell you Kirk has always wanted a Basset Hound since I have known him. Kirk fell in love with Sebastian as soon as he saw him. Sebastian doesn't have the traditional brown eyes of a Beagle, he has these green eyes that just show his soul (so to speak). The first thing that people notice about him when they see him is those eyes of his. As far as we know and what the vets can tell is Sebastian is a pure bred Beagle, however mostly likely the runt of the litter (meaning he isn't show quality). Sebastian will have been with us 11 yrs come this July. We absolutely love him. We cherish each day with him as he has quite a few health problems over the years and scares us at times. We almost lost him when we had him Neutered (he doesn't clot), then he got some kind of immune disease where his body was attacking itself (kinda like Doggy Lupus) and we almost lost him then (PTL he has been healed, we didn't loose him and he doesn't seem to have that issue anymore...yep we had everyone we knew praying for our guy), he has severe ear issues and is almost completely deaf now, he is allergic to fleas and of course the arthritis that I mentioned earlier. We dread the day that we loose him to old age.

House Update

New Mini Bar Area (we don't drink but it will be nice to have an extra sink in the kitchen and one low enough for Edward to reach).
New Kitchen Office Area for Mommy's computer to link up so she can get awesome recipes to use from Foodnetwork and other sites.
Our new Natural Slate Bathroom Floor in the downstairs bathroom.
New stairwell to second floor so that in case of a fire Kirk has a safe way to exit the house.

Well here we are still in the middle of Construction and Renovations. They claim it will be done (mostly just very minor things to wrap up) with by tomorrow. I can tell you I am not holding my breath on that promise. It should have been done at the end of February. The upstairs addition is the only thing completely completed. As I said in my earlier (from yesterday) entry I have been busy putting it together. I can't wait until my house is extra person free and I can get busy. I always feel as if I am in their way, not that they are in mine....preventing me from getting done what I need to get done. I have some new pics to post. I will add them to the top of this post but please note they were taken before I left for Vacation in Mid March.

It's a crap shoot

This is the new shower we bought off of Ebay and had installed in our new bathroom. I love it, but let me tell you it is a crap shoot when you turn it on and turn the dial to try to get the sprayer that you want to work without being doused with cold water (even though you have turned on the hot water and let it run through the tub faucet part of the shower). Edward especially gets a kick out of seeing you being sprayed with freezing cold water. This shower is a hoot, there is a radio, it is set up so you can answer the phone from inside (we don't have that feature set up). It has more features than I know what to do with but not as many as some of the others we saw on Ebay. There were ones that had TV's and refrigerators in them. This one has a way to set up a CD player or Ipod to it, but we haven't figured that out yet. We are happy though that we are able to get KLOVE our favorite Christian radio station. We worship and rock out for God while taking our showers. Edward loves taking a bath but has to be closely supervised because this is also a jacuzzi tub. Very relaxing, can't wait for a quiet day alone at home so I can give it a good try with a great book and a glass of ice tea.

I've Been Tagged

Jennifer has tagged me. I actually love these things.

Here are the rules
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

7 Fun and Weird Facts About Me
1) I like heavy foam (bubbles) on milk so much that I shake the milk jug really hard before I pour it into the glass and only the freshest milk will do.
2)I use to write poetry in Jr High and High School
3) I was in a Pageant from 8th grade to 11th grade....the pageant was called the Miss American Co-ed Pageant.
4) I used to want to go into acting and be an actress, I also wanted to be a Child Pyschologist or a CPA.
5) I am listed in the Who's Who Among American High School Students in 1990/1991 school year (just found out they no longer have their website or do their publication :0( )
6) I have dyslexia and I love to read. (I actually learned to love to read over time and now I can't put books down).
7) I do not like regular coffee but can't get enough of Starbuck's Lattes, Mochas and Macchiatos. I espeically love iced coffee drink but will drink warm ones when it is extremely cold outside.

I am going to tag ????? I don't know others who blog besides Jennifer and she tagges me. :0)

Edward's Birthday Party Planning

I am busy planning Edward's 5th Birthday Party. We had originally (well he did) wanted to have it again this year at the bowling alley, however when I went to set it up.....I was told that we couldn't that week because the Pepsi Tournament Finals were happening that weekend. At first this really upset Edward. We looked into having it at Pump It Up but I didn't care for their party packages. I would have it here at the house but with the renovation still going on and all that I need to get done after it is complete before my Mother In Law arrives plus the fact that we have 3 dogs, I felt it was best to just skip that thought. Maybe next year. I received our quarterly Zoo members newsletter in the mail and that reminded me that we could have a party for him at the zoo. So I asked him, at first he still was insistent about it being at the bowling alley but after a long talk and convincing him we couldn't this year, he okayed it. We are doing a Safari Adventure Party in the Education Building. I think he will like it. They will bring in a live animal and having games and cake for them, plus they get a tour of the zoo. I think it sounds like a great 5th Birthday to me. I found cute party supplies with a Swingin Safari theme. We are doing an African Safari because Edward just loves Giraffes and Elephants....Gorillas too. I bought lots of cute zoo favors for his party attendees. We have over 20 children invited (a few from Co-op, a few from bowling, 1 family from Church and 1 family from Daddy's work...plus the 2 families I use to Nanny for). This will be the first big party. His 3rd party he had 2 or 3 other little boys plus Regan and the Kimmel children. His 4th birthday was a bomb only Regan showed up for that one. We ended up having one after Kindermusik class with the children just to make up for the bomb that we had at the bowling alley. This year we know more people and he has friends from all the things he participates in. We actually have an over abundance of folks to invite and that is awesome for him. I will have pictures for all after the party is over next month.

Huge Update about why I have been MIA

Well, I know you have been wondering where I have been and what we have been up to. All I have to say is that I am so thankful that Edward is in Preschool this year and that we decided to do the renovations to our house this year and not wait. It has interfered with our school schedule way to much. We are just basically working on the preschool basics and that is it. I ended up just putting the curriculum aside both out of frustration with the renovation and with the actual curriculum itself. Edward and I went on a vacation to Washington State for 2 weeks last month. We left here March 18th and didn't return until April 1st. We had so much fun and went to so many great places up there......Pacific Science Center, 2 different Children Museums, a Easter Brunch Cruise on the Sound, Bowling, Funtasia Indoor Amusement Park (we rode the bumper cars twice, the Indy go karts twice and played 18 holes of putt putt golf)....just to name a few places. We also saw my brother, his wife and their little boy Levi, my step-sister and her little boy Logan, my grandmother and grandfather on my fathers side along with my uncle (that was a great surprise) and of course we saw my mother and my grandmother (her mother). We got a little bit of winter and spring while we were there. It snowed a few days, sunshine a few days and rained the rest. We got pictures of Edward with the Easter Bunny (first time....just for fun) and also had 4 generation pictures done (my brother and his family were unable to come due to illness). We had the pictures taken at the Picture People. They asked us to sign release forms as they wanted to use some of our pictures in their studio for examples. All in all it was a great trip and so nice to get away from the chaos of the renovation here at home. Thankfully it was uneventful too (i.e. no one got injured). I wish I could have seen more folks while I was up there. Weather played such a huge part in not being able to see some of them, time played another part, as did location. I can't believe that I get so lost now when I go up north. I lived for the first 20 years of my life and now I couldn't find my way unless I have a GPS system. I felt so bad because my sister in law didn't get to see us but it would have been late at night and dark out...I feared so much that I would get lost and be unable to find my way back to the hotel. I just signed little man up for some of his summer activities, he will be going to a week long Soccer Camp (1 1/2 long each day for 5 straight days), 6 weeks of swimming lessons, a 10 week long summer bowling league. I still need to sign him up for Kindermusik Summer Camp (I hope that the other activities I just signed him up for wont interfer with this as I really want him to go) and I have to go to the rec center and see why I couldn't sign him up for Blast Ball this year. I should have been able to. I have until Friday to get that done. That is in May. Soccer camp is in mid June and Swimming Lessons are last 2 weeks of June, 1st 2 weeks of July and first 2 weeks of August. Bowling is every Monday. Right now we are finishing up our last Session of Imagine That Kindermusik Class (next year he will start their Young Child Program), Homeschool Bowling League (actually last day of that is tomorrow with awards in 2 weeks), Co-op Class (just 5 more weeks) and we just started Monart Classes again last Friday (I believe that there are 8 classes in total for that this session). I spent all of today unpacking all of Edward's toys and getting them put up in the new playroom/theater room that was added on in the renovation. I think I have a few more days of that to go. Then it will be on to gettting his bedroom into order (he got a big boy bed....a bunk bed with a trundle bed). I spent all of Saturday evening putting 330 stars on his ceiling. I have to get some more I think I will need 420 stars to complete his ceiling. He loves it, he things it looks cool so far. We also need to put up his new space themed ceiling fan that we bought him (it is the one by Hunter). After his bedroom is come the guest room, new kitchen, new bathroom, new laundry room and our bedroom to organize before my Mother-in-law comes for Edwards 5th Birthday. I have the Maids scheduled to come do the deep cleaning on the 30th of this month. So actually I only have until then to get the house back together. After my MIL leaves, the I have an attic and basement to deal with. I just want to get this house back together and organized then I can breath easily. I still have to go to the TPA Homeschool Convention at the end of May to look at Curriculum for Edward for Kindergarten next year. If you have any thing you can tell me about any great Kindergarten Curriculum, I am all ears. I know I wasn't that impressed or happy with the Horizons Preschool Curriculum that we used this year. I can already tell I am going to love my new Kitchen. I can't wait to start using it on a regular basis. We are still hit and miss with being able to use it. Tomorrow I am making Teriyaki with Orange and Ginger Salmon, Lemon Buttered Asparagus, Sour Cream w/ chives and sharp cheddar new potatoes, and whole wheat and rye dinner rolls. This will be the most extravagant thing I have made in my new kitchen. I am not sure if I said I was teaching the Co-op class that Edward is going to this semester. I have been having a blast working with the children, I can tell that this is something I have been missing since I became a Stay At Home Mommy and quit nannying. I have also taken over doing the Co-op weekly newsletter for the rest of the semester as a favor. Please keep our co-op president and her family in your prayers, they can use them. Bless her heart, she is so overwhelmed right now. I was more than happy to be of help. I actually have been enjoying doing it. However I still am unable to figure out how she made links within the newletter that would send you directly to the part of the newsletter you want to view. Oh well, maybe this way folks are reading the whole thing and learning about new things they might not know about. Well I think that is it in a nutshell.

To Funny

I don't think my Mother In Law will find this as funny but Edward keeps calling her Daddy's Grandma. I keep correcting him but he still keeps calling her that. He is so excited that she is coming for his 5th Birthday (I know can you believe that he is already going to be that old???). I just hope that by the time she gets here he has it down that she is Grandma to him but Mommy to Daddy.

Little Gentleman

I have to share this with everyone, I know I am about to be boastful & prideful .... I pray God will forgive me for my boastfulness & pride. We (Edward and I) were in Washington State on vacation for 2 weeks over Easter and my mom's birthday. We were staying in an extended stay hotel over by my grandma's. We had just gotten back on evening from visiting my Grandma (I believe...could have been my mom or both), we were walking up to the front door of the hotel where we encountered a very pregnant mommy, her daughter (about Edwards age....maybe a little older), and her little boy (about a year or so old...he was walking). The mom was trying to coax the toddler inside (it was raining out...I know big shocker in Washington state), when Edward without saying a thing walks over to her takes one of her 2 rolling suitcases out of her hands and proceeds to open the door for them, and pushes her suitcase up to the elevator. He pushes the button, the mom says to him thank you and that she could take the suitcase back. Edward looks at her and says "No Ma'me, I want to help you." He walks into the elevator, we all follow. He asks what floor (they ended up on the same floor as us, actually just 2 doors down on the opposite side of the hall), pushes the button. We get to the floor, he is still pulling the suitcase, she says she can take it. He says "No I want to take it to the room for you, ma'me." So we follow her to her room. He gives over her suitcase to her at her door. She says thank you. I was so touched by my son's insightfulness to this mom's situation and that she needed an extra hand. I must say I was proud of him and almost brought to tears by his thoughtfulness. I know that by this act alone that we are at least doing 1 thing right in raising him. Just had to share this story.

Is It Still The Same???

Is it still the same thing to say that I have been in Tiffany's and Prada, as owning something from them? While I was in Las Vegas, I went into their stores there. I must say, I know why people buy knock offs. Talk about costly. Now I can understand why Tiffany's is expensive after all you dealing with precious metals and gems. I wouldn't mind buying something there if I could afford it....however, I was looking at a simple 14K tiny gold cross necklace and it was almost $600.00 and the chain was one of those flimsy little ones that break and get knotted real easily. I went into Prada to look around, it was almost $300.00 for a coin purse. There was a Prada silver keychain there and I thought well that can't cost but 10 or 20 dollars.....LOL was I wrong, try $150.00 for a keychain. OIE VEY!!!! I think I will just look there. There was a Gucci store there to, but after the whole Prada things I was way to afraid to go in there to even look around....no I didn't take Edward into these stores with me...I would have been mortified if he even thought about touching something in one of them.

Things I learned while being laid over on a flight

Things I learned about having a flight being over booked and having to be laid over for a flight the next morning in Phoenix. . . .

1. Try to carry a travel size toothbrush, toothpaste, a packet of wool lite, and deodorant in your carry on and probably an extra pair of undies and socks might be good too...but if you don't have the undies and socks that is where the wool lite comes in....you can wash the undies that you are wearing in the sink at the hotel and re wear your socks (most likely they wont be dry enough to wear in the morning if you wash them too).

2. You can use an iron or a blow dry to dry your recently washed undies.....BUT DO NOT USE THE MICROWAVE to dry them as Kirk learned, it will melt your undies and make your hotel room smell like melting plastic.

3. Not all continential breakfasts are alike. Be prepared to pick something up to eat at the airport.

4. Do not pack your battery charger for you laptop or cell phone in your checked luggage.

5. Be prepared for a lay over when it comes to have a little one in tow.

6. USE THE TSA's recommendations on correctly packing your carry ons. It does help save time when going through the TSA check areas.

WARNING: Watch out for Hotel Doors

We were on vacation in Las Vegas for my husbands 40th birthday, on Sunday the 17th (the day after hubby's special day) we were fixing to go to the airport. Called the bell hop 30 mins before we needed them because hey we know that it takes a good 20 to 30 mins for them to get to you anyways. We had a shuttle to take us the airport so we need to be downstairs shortly after the bell hop would have gotten there. Well, they claimed that they did not take advanced calls....to call back when we needed them and they would send someone straight up. Kirk called the Assistant Manager who did nothing to help the situation (please note Kirk only has one arm, so a bell hop is very important service for us). We waited and called back 20 minutes after the initial call to let them know that we were ready for them. They said it was now going to be a 20 to 30 minute wait to get a bell hop to our room. Of course there was another call made to the Assistant Manager (she was the only one on duty at the time, when it came to managerial staff). Well, I knew that the shuttle would be there long before the bell hop ever got to us. So I told Kirk I would move the luggage myself to the elevator and he said, that will take you 4 trips. I said well if that is what it takes then that is what I will have to do, we don't have time to wait for the bell hop to get up here because we will miss our shuttle. So I went out the door grabbed 2 wheeled suitcases and started down the hall. I got about 1 1/2 rooms away when I heard Edward (I didn't know that he had followed me to help me) letting out a blood curdling scream. I ran back toward him, when I got closer I could see his fingers were in the door jam (the side with the hinges...this door is one of those tension doors they now have in hotels to insure your door will close behind you if you don't shut it all the way yourself). I pushed the door open so he could remove his fingers, that is when I saw more blood than I should have. His middle left finger tip right below the nail was hanging there and bleeding terribly. I took him into the bathroom, screaming that he had cut his finger in the door. He had actually almost amputated, only the back side of the finger was still left attached. Needless to say we missed our flight, and spent 4 plus hours in a Las Vegas Childern's Hospital ER. They were able to stitch his finger back on. They called it a Crush Injury. There is a tiny little bone at the tips of the fingers that got severed from the rest. It will heal over time. His finger will just have cosmetic damage to it but he will always have trauma from the actual injury and what he had to go through to get his finger stitched back together (they had to burrito roll him in a blanket and hold him down to stitch him back up). We put a ballpoint pen in the area where Edward had his fingers and let the door swing close on its own, it crushed the pen. So please, please, please watch your little ones around all those types of doors that are tensioned to automatically close behind you at hotels, doctors offices, restrooms and so forth. Please note I am withholding the hotel name for legal purposes. We ended up spending an additional night in Las Vegas, then caught a flight home on Monday only to get laid over in Phoenix because the flight was over booked. Finally made it home Tuesday afternoon. It has been a week now since his accident with the door and Edwards finger is healing nicely. As for his fingernail, he will loose it and time will only tell if it will grow back and if so how it was effected by the injury.