I should have saved this for a Wordless Wednesday post, and let you all guess what was going on here, but it was just too funny!
Oh, wait...I can still let everyone guess...

An accidental sleepover and some Albuterol

.this.

.silly.










.little.

 .boy.

::gave us quite a scare Wednesday night::

He normally gets a croupy cough with a cold, but this time he had a cold and no cough and I knew something was wrong.  His belly and neck were moving when he breathed, but not his chest and he was making whimpering noises on each breath.

I got the pediatrician to squeeze us in, it was late by the time he saw us, around 5.  I had left Alec and Ava at a friends house because I didn't want my well children to be sitting in a germ-filled waiting room for hours.  The ped.sort of freaked out when he saw Benji, didn't explain anything to me, and brought in a nebulizer to give Benji some breathing treatments.

Benji ended up with two breathing treatments in the doc's office and a dose of steroids, and then we had orders to take him to our local children's hospital for more breathing treatments and further evaluation.  After a terribly long night of going to one ER and leaving because it was wall to wall with vomit and fevers, driving 50 min. to another ER and waiting for another breathing treatment, we decided that Alec and Ava were better off staying where they were.

So, it came about that Ava had her very first sleep over!  The family that kept her and Alec for us was the family we went to Lakeside with this summer, and their girls love Ava.  Ava had a great time (so did Alec, but it's less remarkable 'cause he's 8!), shed not one tear, and went to be with no complaints, sharing a mattress with one of the girls.

I'm glad she had a nice time, but a little sad that her very first sleepover occurred at such a young tender age and was the result of a somewhat traumatic medical incident!

Benji is fine today and now we're looking into a maintenance routine to prevent this from happening again.  We were told by the ER doc that he has Reactive Airway Disease.  The only difference between that and asthma is that RAD happens once in a while and is triggered by a virus or allergy (both of which Benji had/has)

While I agree with the majority of the acute, rescue treatment that our ped. (Dr.R) gave Benji, I am not at all happy with the way it was done.  I was given orders, not suggestions or opinions.  I'm sure not every parent comes into his office with 80 million questions like I did, but I would expect the respect of an answer for every single one, and a suggestion of treatment, not a demand.  What I believe Dr.R. failed to recognize was that all he can do is offer his professional opinion but it's ultimately up to me, after having been presented with a complete set of information, to make the final decision.

While we respect the educated opinion of any medical doctor, it's just that, an educated opinion.  I would never blindly trust anyone to make a decision regarding my health or that of my children.

We won't be following the advice of Dr.R regarding maintenance treatment for Benji's possible condition (I'm sure he'll be horrified), instead we are doing research on our own and consulting with our holistic chiropractor, Dr.J.  We will most likely be doing some sort of herbal or homeopath daily dosage.  We believe in the natural ability of the body to heal and correct imbalances, when provided with pure, natural resources. And, of course, in the ability of our Creator to heal!

So....I was looking forward to a sound sleep last night for all of us. 

Unfortunately, Alec (who has an occasional bout of allergy-induced asthma) had an asthma attack mid afternoon.  Fortunately we were in our chiropractor's office when it happened and she gave him some remedies right away.  We put him to bed very early, but he woke in the night with a tight, painful chest and dry cough.  So, I was in the kitchen at 3am making hot onion poultices for his chest and spicy chicken broth for him to drink.

That, combined with some homeopathic drops, worked well, and he fell back asleep at around 4:30.  After being up till 1am Wed. night, and then up for a couple hours in the middle of last night,

MOMMY IS TIRED!!

{I am, however, praising my Heavenly Father that I have healthy children that are able to be cared for in our home, and not hooked up to tubes in the hospital.  Every time we have an ER episode (which is rare) my heart goes out to parents who have to tend to their children laying in hospital beds, and I say a little prayer.}

Sunday is Marvin and my 12 year anniversary, and we're heading out tonight and all day tomorrow for some R & R alone!  My goal today is to do a whole lot of nothing, so that tomorrow I can do a whole lot with my best friend!

School Update

School is going well so far, sort of...

In a mere 5 weeks time, I have decided that the curriculum I'm using is written in a way that isn't working for me

I now spend a decent amount of time each Sunday evening re-writing the lesson plans in a way that I can decipher in the midst of the whining and general noise that I wade through each morning

This new method is working quite nicely for me, but is making me think about using some other curriculum next year (such as Ambleside Online, which is FREE!)

The kids are enjoying being taught at home, and are already showing a more positive and tolerant attitude towards each other.

We've loosened up quite a bit with the school portion of our daily schedule, sometimes starting Alec on math or another "workbook subject" before breakfast.

We're still finishing around noon, which is great, but leaves way too much of the day still unstructured.  I'm working on that...

For any of you readers that are home schoolers, or are interested, here are the things we're using:

Math-U-See (we LOVE this!!)

Handwriting Without Tears (we LOVE this, too!)

My Father's World (I like the textbooks a lot, but the lesson plans leave much to be desired!)

Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons (I'm not sold on this yet, but I've been told it's awesome)

Pathway Readers (adorable, simple early readers)

I'm also incorporating several books from the Ambleside Online reading list for Alec (who is mostly in third grade)

I'm working on redoing our daily schedule, I'm sort of really into studying the way things naturally happen and then making a schedule that fits into those perameters.  That way, it's much less stress, and more likely that the schedule will be followed.
I'll post it when I'm finished.

For now, I will leave you with this delightful little snippet from Frog and Toad are Friends (Arnold Lobel)


"Think of it," said Frog.  "We will skip through the meadows and run through the woods and swim in the river.  In the evenings we will sit right here on this front porch and count the stars." 
"You can count them, Frog," said Toad.  "I will be too tired."

Wordless Wednesday

I've been...

 busy
::

sad
::

confused
::

frustrated
::

lonely
::

mad
::

and ecstatically happy
::

I have...
::

no pictures
::

nothing to say
::

a hole in my heart
::

and a smile on my face

Wordless Wednesday

I like to ride my bicycle!

On Sunday, we went on a long-anticipated bike ride.  We had heard about this trail from some friends and were looking forward to giving it a try.  Where we live, there is a program called "Rails to Trails" that has converted unused railways into multi-use trails.  They are generally flat, scenic and well-maintained.

At the four and 1/2 mile marker, this one boasted a train carcass and some exceptionally awesome sculpture art.  In fact, I was so absorbed in the budding relationship between it and my camera, I forgot to read the plaque that sat at the base.  I have no idea who designed it, or what it's supposed to be representing.  My camera loved it, though, and so did the children!

We had a great time, but riding 9 miles is a lot for little legs and the trip home was certainly not delightful.  We'll definitely go back, this time armed with more water, and much lower expectations!!

 

 

 

 

Ain't no .sunshine. when you're gone

First time we've been here since we said goodby

The park was deserted

The day was flawless

The kids played happily

I was sad

It was bittersweet

but we'll go back.

This is me

I'm not skinny

I teach school and clean the house wearing jewlery

I love mascara

I hate mullets

I hate it when people brush their hair in the car

I regret not traveling abroad as a student

I love my kids so much it hurts

I miss my friend so much it hurts

I've cried at every wedding I've been to

I cry whenever I see a birth story on TV

I love the smell of my husbands shirt when he comes home from work

I have a headache

I love cold carrot cake

I love the sky, all the time

My sewing machine is among my prized possessions



Who are you?

peek into Boy-Land

what you'll find in their Room

:: Legos ::

:: Legos ::

:: Legos ::

:: sky-high shelves with overflowing bins ::

:: a totally rad castle in various stages of battle ::

::an uninvited sister ::

:: a cool chair ::

:: a cognac and cream guinea pig named Bugsy ::

(sounds tasty, definitely NOT edible *grin*)

:: a Big Mess ::

:: the top bunk ::