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.

68 yrs later

This copy of the Kansas City Times dated September 26, 1940 was found in the as of our little porch that someone turned into a portion of the kitchen later on (probably in the 40's) given the date of the paper found there. Unfortuantly, the construction works thumbed throught this newpaper before it was brought to my attention. It is crumbling now, I wish I would have known about it from the first then maybe there would have been hope of preserving it beyond just these pictures. It was neat to look at though. A piece of history hidden within our walls. I am considering putting a current paper in our walls kinda like a time capsule.

Are We Camping?????

Oie Vey!!!!! I feel like I am on a very bad camping trip right now. No dishwasher right now. The kitchen sink, down stairs bathroom sink, shower/tub combo and toilet will be unusable after tomorrow. We are eating off of plastic solo plates, using plastic silverware and really lightening up on cooking at home to alleviate having to washing dishes. Unlike camping though I have no room to move around....ah but I guess that is what it would be like to camp in a fifth wheel with a husband, a 4 1/2 yr old and 3 dogs....huh? Only about 5 to 6 more weeks of this madness. They are roofing the new addition today, demolishing the back half of the kitchen, updating the electric (guess they broke a gas line while I was gone earlier), & doing some clean up of debris today. PTL!!! This isn't one of those projects where it will take years. Our contractor is great and things are moving along smoothly. The addition is over half way done....just need siding put up outside, wired for electricity, dry wall put up and wood floors put down, interior and exterior doors hung....wood floors also need to be put down in the new laundry room, then the upstairs will be complete. This is the first time I have ever been in this type of situation. I can say it is a very stressful one. So many decisions to be made.

Crazy House

Well it officially began today. We started the addition and renovation on our house today. I was awakened this morning at 8 am to Bear-Bear barking insistently. He doesn't usually do this. So I threw my bathrobe on and went down to see what was bothering him. I saw a soda sitting on our back deck that I know wasn't there when I went to bed. I stepped outside to find 2 guys on our roof taking down the gutters we just had put on this summer. Kirk had forgot to mention that they would be starting today. I went to a Dr. Appointment at 10am, to see my new Endocrinologist for my Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome and Diabetes management. This is my first time to have ever seen one and I must say I am happy to have her help me to better understand my diseases and how to manage them. Tomorrow I have to go in early to get some blood work and tests done, then I will see her again in a week after I have monitored my sugar levels according to her directions. This is a good thing trust me. When I was diagnosed with Diabetes, I wasn't told how to manage it, how often or when to take my blood to check my sugar levels ( I even had to beg to get a monitor....it was over a year before I finally got one...then I was just given the monitor and left to my own devices), the signs of to high or low sugar levels and what to do in these situations. It is nice to know that I now have more control over my diseases. Enought of that. I came home to a brage of workers, and finally after 6 plus months of begging Kirk to get me some help to move the old air conditioners that were replaced (Couldn't get them back down the stairs....they weigh a ton and I couldn't bear the brunt of the weight and he kept forgetting to ask someone to come and help me move them), the workers removed them for us. I was able to get to the room that will be turned into the laundry room (yep, it will be upstairs on the 2nd floor now instead of in the basement) to clean it out. Now to go through all my old craft room stuff decide what I need, what can be yard sale and what is trash. I need to down size, as I will have limited storage space for these things. So I spent the better part of the afternoon moving the boxes from that room to the guest room (sorry if you were planning to come to visit us in the next few months....probably not a good idea unless you want to stay in a hotel....no place to put a guest at this time). Feb and March look pretty busy and hectic too. Well it is very late, I need to get to bed as I need to be at the doctors at 8am to have the blood work needed done.

The Manipulation of a 4 year old

Edward is totally and truly a 4 year old. He has the 4 yr old mouth and attitude. Tonight he got in trouble for disobeying us several times about the same thing. He was sent to his room. He went up fussing, screaming and crying, even added a door slam for extra dramatic effect. Trust me, he would have won an emmy for best dramatic actor in a tantrum if there were such an award. About 3 minutes into his trantrum, I hear: " I love her with all my heart, I really do. My Mommy's mad at me, but I love her with all my heart." The thing is while this was cute, funny and all it wasn't just me he had gotten in trouble with it was both daddy and I. It about broke my heart.

The Jist Of It

Well, it has been way beyond hectic around here. Edward is just working on this visual ABC's, Numbers, Colors, Shapes, Numerical order, Days of the Weeks, Months of the Year and the Seasons. This is mostly flashcard work but I am so glad that we have taken time off to just focus on this. I have seen so much improvement in his recognition of these things. We will return to normal curriculum work on Jan 7,2008. We had our Christmas parties at Co-op and Bowling League last week. I was the person who did the Co-op party. I baked over 4 dozen gingerbread boy cookies for the children to decorate, assembled party bags, planned party games, made party treats, bought supplies, decorated, planned the crafts and helped with the clean up afterwards. It was a hit. We have been watching these 2 new shows every M-F morning on our local PBS station. One is called Super Why and the other is Word World both teach reading. I love them and encourage anyone with children pre-reading to early reading levels to check them out if your local PBS station carries them.
We are also preparing for a huge remodel on our house at the beginning of the year. We are going to have an additional room added upstairs, relocate and design the kitchen, move the school room into the existing kitchen area after it has been gutted (except for the wall to ceiling cupboards on the East wall (will make great storage for all our supplies, books and school goodies), we are enlarging our down stairs bathroom and modernizing it. The new room upstairs will be the theater/playroom (yeah no more toys will be allowed down stairs for the most part). All the prelimanaries for the remodeling are turning out to be very time consuming. Luckily we are trying to deal with this all during the next 2 weeks because there are no co-op, kindermusik, monart, or bowling classes.
I am doing a co-op class this Semester so that will also be consuming my time. Makes me wish there were more than 24 hours in a day, some days.
Edward is getting excited about Christmas.
Well that seems to be it in a nutshell for now.

Edward's Celebrity Look-A-Likes

Thompson Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

PARENTS BEWARE!!!!!!!!!!!

Please follow the url below to find out VERY IMPORTANT Info about a movie coming out in December called the Golden Compass. We need to be aware of this so that our children (whom this movie is geared towards) are not subject to this movie's message against God. Urban Legends Reference Pages: The Golden Compass ( http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/compass.asp )

Elephants, Horses & Clowns oh My!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We took Edward to the Barnum & Bailey Circus. He absolutely loved it. He loved the clowns. Will add pictures as soon as Kirk gets them uploaded from my phone.

First Crush

Well it has happened, Edward officially has his very first crush on a little gal. Her name is Emma and she is in our homeschool co-op. He just thinks she hung the moon. His way of showing his affections to her was to push her into a recycle bin. We told him how to let a little girl know that he likes her but we also went over personal space and not being forward. Doing nice things for her was the best way to show that he liked her. Awwwwwwwwww Puppy Love, isn't it grand?????

Should I wear a Disclaimer or Defective Badge?

I have been feeling lately as if people are judging me by the way I look. My hair is thinning in places, I have fair that grows from my chin & I am fat. These are only the things that they can see on the outside. No one can see the issues my body is going through on the inside. No one knows how hard I struggle and hate the way I look. I know if you are reading this then you are saying if this is the issue then fix it. But it's not 100% fixable for me. I have a disease, one that a lot of people don't understand or even know that in addition to having infertility issues there are so many other health problems and little quirks that go hand and hand with my disease. My Disease is called Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. I struggle with this disease and have every day since I was 11, when I was blessed with my cycle. I didn't know it though until 1999 or 2000. I went through years of not knowing what was wrong with me, why I couldn't do that simple thing of giving a child to my husband. People star at me, their looks tell me everything that they are thinking. Lady loose weight. Lady take care of yourself. Lady quite being so lazy. Heck, I have actually had a family member tell me that I was Fat, Ugly and Lazy. This broke my heart. I don't want to be fat, I would give anything to have the body that Britney Spears (NO I DON'T CONDONE THIS LADY LIFE...I am just using her to make a statement...you will see what I mean as you read on) that the press and tabloids had the audacity to claim was a fat. LOL! Yeah right if that is fat then I am in HUGE trouble and no wonder why I keep feeling like people are judging me for my weight. It is exteremly hard for a woman with PCOS to loose weight, so much so that my doctor told me she wouldn't put me on a diet. It would be more disasterous for my state of mind and mental well being because it would be so fustrating for me. She just said eat breakfast, get 30 mins of exercise a day and take care of yourself by taking your meds daily.

FACTS ABOUT PCOS: Is also known as Stein-Leventhal Syndrome or Polycystic Ovary Disease (PCOD). Affects an estimated 6-10% of all women and most don't even know they have it. Is treatable, but not curable, by medications, changes in diet (sometimes but not always..this depends on lots of other factors) and exercise. Is one of the leading causes of infertility in women. Has been identified for 75 years and they still aren't sure what causes it. Affects far more than just reproduction. IT IS NOT just a cosmetic problem. CAN INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING SYMPTOMS: Irregular or absent menses, Numerous cysts on the ovaries in many, but not all, cases, High blood pressure, High Cholesterol, Acne, Elevated insulin levels, Insulin Resistance, or Diabetes, Infertility, Excess hair on the face and body, Thinning of the scalp hair (alopecia), Weight Problems or obesity that is centered around your mid section

I feel like I need walk around with a huge badge on my chest or a tattoo on my forhead that states I AM DEFECTIVE, PLEASE DO NOT JUDGE ME ON MY OUTSIDE APPEARANCE

No Halloween Celebrated Here

We don't celebrate Halloween in our house. We celebrate Fall/Harvest This is our choice. We feel that Halloween is not a holiday, that we as Christians should celebrate. God laid this heavy on our hearts and we are choosing to follow His wishes (this also applies with Harry Potter Books....he has laid that heavily on our hearts that these books aren't of Christ, nor something that we would want us polluting our minds with). Yes, that means our son, doesn't get to go trick or treating but we don't feel that he is missing out on much. It is just so dangerous to go trick or treating anyway. He is old enough to understand that Halloween is a day (thanks to the fact that people do celebrate it and tend to decorate their homes (some not so tastefully)) that might look fun, but we are trying to give him our Christian values and see that it isn't a day that God would want us to celebrate. This year so far he hasn't wanted to decorate or even look at decorations pertaining to this holiday. He actually gets upset when he sees them. However we did decorate for the fall/harvest time. We have pumpkins (no carvings) and gourds on our front porch, with some fall flowers. A fall wreath on our front door. A welcome Fall Sign on front porch wall. We also have a beautiful fake pumpkin that is engraved with a great saying: Praise God, from whom all blessings flow, on each side of that pumpkin (we bought this last fall). We have some scarecrows (a boy and a girl,...really cute ones...we even have a couple of bigger ones for the front porch) sitting on our front entry hall table with some pumpkin spice potpourri. We have other fall decor that I need to go up to the attic to get that we bought last year (fake pumpkins with no carvings and so forth, nothing haunted, bloody, screaming, scary or questionable). So see we do decorate, we just choose to do it for Fall/Harvest not Halloween. For the most part Edward seems to understand that Halloween is a no no, the Lord has really been letting his heart hear what we are telling us and he hasn't questioned us about this yet. He might in a few years but I have a few great books to refer to incase he has questions and the Lord will help us to get through that too. Praise the Lord for those.

What is his name again mommy?

This afternoon, Edward suddenly got really quiet. I called through the house for him but couldn't find him. I went outside to see if he was out there playing. At first I couldn't see him at all (my heart began to drop) then I looked over our fence to our neighbors yard and there was Edward "helping" our elderly neighbor work on his bright yellow moped scooter. He always is coming in the house and asking me the neighbors name. I think it is cute that Edward wants to help him. The other day, Edward brought in flowers from the neighbors garden that he cut for him. We put them on a vase and put them on Edwards desk. Don't worry the neighbor doesn't allow Edward in his house and his wife is there. He tells Edward to come tell me that he is helping him. I think Edward does but I think it comes out a different way...he is showing the neighbor something (usually something to do with his trains). Edward doesn't have any grandpas around so this is a blessing for him. I did go over with Edward today though that he isn't to go any further than the neighbors yard, he can't go in their house or garage. He is to let us know know that he is over there. If he breaks any of these rules, he will not be allowed to go over there to "help".

My FIL's Talents

As you read in a previous post my Father In Law, Stan Thompson passed away on Wednesday Morning while jogging. My Father In Law was a journalist, a artist and a photographer in heart, mind and soul. He loved what he did, he had a great talent for he. He was free lancing for the San Luis Obispo Newspaper which is a sister paper to the Tribune. Here is a link to the article that they posted about him the day after his passing: http://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/story/158122.html I have also added the link to the last article that he wrote for the newspaper, it was published on the day that he pasted away: http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_action=doc&p_docid=11C1307237A1DDF8&p_docnum=1 I share these things with you because I want you to know what a brilliant talent he had. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him, especially his loving family.

By George He's Getting

Today during school like every day for the past 5 1/2 weeks we have been working our way through the alphabet. We are up to Ff now. Everyday we begin with saying the letters and their sounds. Today like every day I ask Edward the sounds that the letters make to see if he knows them before I begin reviewing them with him. He successfully made the A B C and D sounds with no help or reviewing of them. I am so proud of him. He is also working very hard on writing his name all by his self. It is just amazing to watch his learning grow every day.

In Mourning

We are grieving the loss of my beloved Father-in-law. He died unexpectantly yesterday morning. In a way this might have been heaven sent because he would never get sick where we would have to watch him go through pain. But never the less, to loose him in a blink of an eye is very shocking to all of us. He will be greatly missed. Please keep our family in your thoughts and prayers as we go through the grieving process (this includes my Sister-in-laws and their families, my FIL siblings and their families and other who knew him). This is hard for Edward being so little to understand, especially since he only got to see his Grandpa once in Nov of 2005. It is so hard to be so far from family, especially since there is no stopping aging. PTL though that Kirk was able just last month over Labor Day Weekend to get together for a 3 day vacation together with his Dad. I felt on my heart that they needed this weekend alone together with out Edward and I. God must have been telling my something at that time, I am so happy that I listened to what he was telling my heart. We have decided that Edward and I will remain here in Kansas instead of going to the funeral. Edward is confussed about exactly whom it was that passed away and since my FIL will be cermated there will be no way for Edward to put the person with the death. We have talked to him about it and he knows his Grandpa has passed away. I think it is in his best interest to keep it simple at this point.

The Woman You Love To Hate

I am one of those women you just love to hate, I already am doing my Christmas Shopping (our spare room is already storing some gifts and waiting to store more) and have my Christmas cards ordered. They were delivered today, I will be making my Christmas Card list here in the next few weeks, addressing and preparing to have my cards in the mail December 1st. Christmas packages will go out at that time too. I think having to live so far away from family has taught me to be ahead of the game.

Edward's Curriculum For This Week

This week's curriculum is pretty interesting. Edward is learning about Helen Keller and the Braille system. We have learned what his name looks like in Braille and will be learning what Braille looks like. We are reading a biography about Helen Keller. We have also been learning the letters Cc, Dd and Ee. We have been working on A through E (including the sounds that each letter makes). We are learning the colors BLACK and WHITE and Circle is our shape. We also have a new Memory Verse, Genesis 1:3 (NIV) And the Lord Said "let there be light" and there was light. He pretty much has our first Memory verse, Genesis 1:1 (NIV) In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, memorized now. Beginning in October we will start having a weekly theme. We are going to be doing Apples the first week of Oct, for the 2nd week Fire Saftey(that week is Nation Fire Safety Week...we'll be covering some other safety issues during this week too), Farm Animals will be the 3rd week, then Popcorn for the 4th week (did you know that October is National Popcorn Month?) and the last week of October we will focus on Autumn, Leaves and Harvest time. 3 is our number this week. Edward is also now writing the first 2 letters of his 1st name by himself. I had been holding the pencil to steady it and guide it for him in the past as we talk about the way the letters go. I am so proud of him. He does tend to make his E huge, jetting way. We've also started incorporating computer learning programs into our curriculum. We've joined both the Preschool Playhouse Disney online program and the myNOGGIN online preschool program, not to mention we utilize alot of the free kids sites like pbs.org and dailynoggin.com too. We also have 3 computer program that are Christian based that came with the Horizon Preschool Curriculum that we are using this year, as a part of it's media program. We also are using Jumpstart Preschool Programs, and other learning programs like Blue's Clues. It is amazing to watch Edward grasping concept after concept. Tomorrow we have Co-op class. Still no Monart or bowling due to the thumb. We are still working on the first pre-reader book. I will not let him move on until he can actually read the words in the book. I have made flashcards with the words on them so that he doesn't use the pictures in the book to help him know what words I want him to say. I want him to see the words and know what it says. I got the rest of his Scholastic Phonics Program in the mail today. We will begin that program in January. I am excited, he'll be able to read by himself before we know it. Which I know he wants to do so bad, he is always looking at books and making up stories about the pictures because he wants to read. Speaking of books, Edward wrote on this week for Kindermusik class. It is cute. Well, that is about it in a nutshell for this week.

Arms

Edward loves to point out to Kirk that he only has one arm. He always says "Daddy I have two arms, you only have one arm." Now that Edward has broken his thumb and has to wear a splint like brace on his right hand, he has been saying " Daddy I only have one arm like you." LOL!

Ode to the Squirrel

We have some squirrels that live in our neighborhood. I refer to them as cheeky. We have a few that will sunbathe themselves on our front stoop. They love to dig up my flower pots. Then when we had our new front lawn put in, they began to dig little holes in the bark. They are looking for nuts that fall from a few of the trees in the area. We have hazelnuts and walnuts. Our neighbor also feeds them so, this also tends to attract them to our area of the neighborhood. Edward and I even have made up a song about them:Those cheeky, cheeky squirrels dug up my plants. Thats okay 'cause I'll teach them to dance.Well, today I went out to bring in the trash cans. When I was walking back into the house, I noticed that they had been digging up my fall plants in my pot. I had bought 7 little pumpkins to put in front of the pot to add a little harvest (fall) look to the area on the stoop. Guess what now those little stinkers are stealing the mini pumpkins. There are only 4 of them left.

Update on Edward's thumb

Edward went to his Pediatrician this morning. They took more x-rays of his thumb. The crack in the bone is length wise not width. It is the 2nd bone in his thumb. He has to wear a splint that looks like a brace for 4 weeks. In about 2 weeks we can take it off for about 30 minutes 2 times a day and let him begin to exercise it by squeezing a ball. So he will not be able to go to his Monart Classes or Bowling League until the 4 weeks are up. Bummer! Poor Kid. He is taking it well so far. I know that this splint is a lot easier for him to deal with, as it is evident in just the short time he has had it today.

Incoming Newsflash...The Great Flood of 2007 hits a Kitchen in Newton, KS

Wondering about the title of my post? LOL! Wait until your read what it is all about. It was a cool evening in Kansas. Nothing out of the ordinary seemed to be looming over the town of Newton. An unsuspecting family was settling in for a quiet evening at home. The father was off at the store picking up something for the mom, that she need to complete the evening meal. She was in at the computer printing off the recipe that she needed for dinner. The little boy and his 3 faithful four legged companions where outside playing. The mom goes back into the kitchen to begin to prepare the evening meal, when she hears what sounds like rushing water. Having just loaded the dishwasher and started it, she steps over to see if something is amiss with it. She steps in about 3 inches of water. Still hearing the rushing water, her eyes wander to the back door and through the flap in the pet door she sees the little boy holding the backyard hose right next to the pet door....water is just rushing in through it. All of the back part of the kitchen was flooded and was starting to pour into the main part of the kitchen. After she yelled at the little boy to turn off the hose, she grabbed her faithful Floor Mate and sucked up about 7 gallons of water. Thankfully she didn't end up needing a row boat.

Where I stand in my family of boys......

I have to laugh. This morning on the way home from Kindermusik, Edward informed me that he and daddy were going to go on a trip (this weekend) to stay in a hotel and have fun at an amusement park. He also continued to inform me that during this time of his absence and daddy's, that I was to clean (this is what I always do when Kirk takes Edward out of town...I don't get to rest and relax) the playroom, his bedroom, the couch, the front room, the schoolroom, the kitchen and do the laundry. LOL!!!! I think someone (or should I say some people) are a little bit on the spoiled side in this family. I told Kirk what Edward said and he just laughed, he thought it was funny. However, he said he hadn't planned on taking Edward. I think someone might be a little heartbroken when he doesn't get to go somewhere with daddy.