Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY ...

Outside my window...

It's a beautiful spring day outside. There's a few clouds but it's nice enough to go out without a jacket (or maybe a light one). A good day to air out the house!

I am thinking...

of some things that I need to get done around the house. My poor plants are in need of watering.

I am thankful for...

such a beautiful day outside. Lately it's been rain, rain, rain it's nice to have some sun.

From the learning rooms...

The boys have a short week this week, Spring break begins this Friday. So I hope that means an easy week for them. Sean is in need of practice with his multiplication facts so we made some flashcards or he plays a math game on the computer. Oh and I found a great "find" at the thrift store today. It's a giant set of workbooks made by Hooked on Phonics. They read a 1 to 2 page story and answer questions after for comprehension. It's really great for only 4 bucks, there are over 100 workbooks. I plan to use that for homeschool next year.

From the kitchen...

I do not have a CLUE for tonight! Dennis is stopping by the commissary to pick up something. We were supposed to go to the commissary this weekend but never made it, I'm low on food lol

I am wearing...

jeans and a blue fleece shirt

I am creating...

I'm knitting a little summer dress for Elizabeth. I hope to have it done so she can wear it this summer (slow knitter alert)

I am going...

nowhere now but earlier today I went into base with Dennis. He had to take the dog into the vet so I ran to the PX. I got a couple of cute spring dresses for Elizabeth. Then we stopped at the thrift store on our way home.

I am reading...

I just got a new book, The Homeschooling Handbook. Kind of a guide on starting out with homeschooling

I am hoping...

Sean wont have a whole lot of homework tonight, they'll probably be late coming home. Dennis is out there picking them up, Sean has to get a shot, then they're getting haircuts and stopping at the commissary.

I am hearing...

the news on the tv.

A few plans for the rest of the week:

Not too much going on this week. Copper had his vet appointment today and finally got those nails clipped. Elizabeth has her doctor's appointment tomorrow along with the dreaded shots. The boys start spring break at the end of this week. Looking forward to the long break. I just need to figure out what to do with them during this long week off. Hopefully the weather is nice and we can take the train into town and go to the zoo.

Here is picture thought I am sharing.

Elizabeth Rose is ready for spring!

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Counting the days

Seriously, today is one of those days I just cant wait until we begin to homeschool. Sean was NOT in the mood to go to school today. What kid is right, but you could see the stress on his face. He was up last night with night terrors again. Came downstairs sleepwalking and crying. Then this morning, we tried to keep things positive but, like I said, you could just see the anxiety. I havent gotten a phone call from school (yet) so I'm assuming he is ok.

What do I do? What could be so stressful in Elementary school that my poor boy has so much anxiety and night terrors? I've asked him if he has friends to play with and he does. I've asked about bullies, and other than the normal "bad" kids he doesnt mention anything about anyone bullying him. Is it the school work? He does fine, though he needs some confidence that he CAN do it! I just dont know. This is just a day that makes me look forward to homeschooling. 8 year olds should not have the weight of the world on their shoulders.

The MRI results: the doctors said that they dont see anything unusual in his MRI. They are going to take a closer look and send the results to the clinic but they're pretty positive that everything is good. Thank God! The other tests were all good too. Dennis found out that the bacteria test they did the other week was an acid reflux test so acid reflux is ruled out as well. Pretty much, the doctors said, it must just be stress. Stress! It just breaks my heart to think that he is so stressed out that he's getting physically ill.

Update on Sean

Bah! I thought I updated this hours ago. I must have forgotten to post it. Forgive me, I'm just dragging today. I got little sleep and Elizabeth has been demanding attention the past day or two, more so than usual.

Sean stayed the night, like I said. He has to stay the night again tonight too. They finally got the MRI pictures they needed but they had to put him fully under, that's why he has to stay tonight for observation. I havent gotten to speak much to Dennis about everything. Our phones were low on minutes (pay-as-you-go type cell phones). He went out and got us more minutes while Sean was recovering but he still cant talk too much on the cell while in the hospital. So basically I dont know much more than that, and I'll try to update when I can.... haha hopefully I'll remember to hit the PUBLISH button this time.

OH! And today is also special because it is our 9th wedding anniversary today. HAHA! Nice way we get to spend it, 'eh. That's ok, maybe this weekend we can celebrate as a family at a nice German restaurant. We decided no gifts or big deal this year anyway because of everything going on (child in hospital, sicknesses, cars dying, etc).

Well I should get dinner started.... who knows what I'm going to fix, probably something easy :)

A Simple Woman's Daybook

****UPDATE********************
They are staying overnight at the hospital. They didnt start the MRI until around 430pm or so and apparently Sean didnt stay still enough for them to get a good picture. What else do you expect from an 8year old bundle of energy. They're going to try and keep him up late tonight and try again in the morning. Dennis couldnt talk long (have only a few minutes left on the phone) he just called real quick to update me. He was on his way back to the hospital from the PX, he ran to get Sean some pizza since the hospital only served Sean a "wierd" sandwich. LOL But Sean was ok, he is sharing a room with another American boy. :) I will update again tomorrow, after I hear from them again.
*********************************

Before I do this, I want to add a quick note. I know we're all anxiously waiting on news about Sean (me too), I will update as soon as I hear.
Also, this daybook idea, I've been doing some blog surfing lately. Just reading blogs from other like-minded mothers out there. This was one I found. Every Monday, everyone in this group filling out the "form" (below) and then links back to the main page at the end. There we sign and link our log so you can read everyone's entry. It's really neat! And on I go to my first "Simple Woman's Daybook"

FOR TODAY ...

Outside my window...it's an overcast, windy day. There are a few birds foraging and playing in our still leafless trees. Signs of spring are everywhere, from the birds chirping to the little buds forming on the trees.

I am thinking...mostly about Sean today. I'm hoping they arent poking and prodding him too much at the hospital. I hope he's not too scared.

I am thankful for... soft chubby little fingers that grasp my thumb as baby blue eyes look up at my face. The thump thump thumping on the ceiling above from two little boys playing together in their room. And thankful for being able to kiss the pain away when one of those boys inevitably hurts himself from bouncing around. :)

From the learning rooms...both of the boys have off school today but Sean has begun to learn how to multiply multi-digit numbers by a single digit and Ryan has started taking AR (accelerated reading) tests - kind of like reading comprehension tests, the teacher reads to them and they take a test at a computer to see how much they remember. They are both doing really well. :)

From the kitchen...I just got done baking a white cake and it's cooling waiting to be frosted. Sean picked it out at the commissary yesterday so I want to have it done for him when he gets home - whether that be today or tomorrow.

I am wearing...white tshirt and jeans, barefoot and hair up in a bun.... my usual ;)

I am creating... at the moment, I'm not creating anything other than blog entries, which is rare for me. Too much going on, I guess. I started trying to knit up a overalls dress for Ella but I'm doing it without a pattern and I havent touched it in a few weeks. It needs to be frogged anyway, I didnt start out right.

I am going...nowhere in particular at the moment... unless you count the laundry room.

I am reading...many many homeschooling magazines/catalogs, the Bible, and book called The Family Mealtable

I am hoping...Sean isnt worrying too much and that he is comfortable and that Dennis would call soon to update me.

I am hearing...Ry playing a video game, Ella jingle jangling her keys under the baby gym and the shutters banging from the wind outside

Around the house...I'm working on laundry today. I got most of my chores done but I still need to frost the cake and declutter the living room.

One of my favorite things...baby laughs... well all children laughs too ;). I forgot to tell you, we got Elizabeth's first laugh the other day!!!

A few plans for the rest of the week:just the normal routine for the most part. I would like to take a walk down to the store and pick up some flowers to plant outside. This week, the church is holding a missions conference. Dennis will be mostly going to that and the boys and I will try and go at the end of the week when there is no school. Sean also needs to get a booster shot this week - school sent home a warning that it has to be done or he'll be disenrolled (poor guy). And on Sunday we're having a potluck lunch/dinner at church. :)

Here is picture thought I am sharing...


From our backyard: Spring is on its way!!!

Go here to read other Women's daybooks or make your own

http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/

Home remedies... gotta love'm

(Editing to put in a slide show of some picts I took of Ella today, give it time to load... enjoy!)

Believe it or not, the breast milk cure for pink-eye does work! Sean had a wicked case of it too but it's all cleared up and we was back in school yesterday. It probably would have cleared up earlier if he would have let us treat him more often but he hated getting the drops. Not that they were painful, it's that they were "scary". haha! You know how scary it is seeing that dropper come towards your eye when you're little (and sometimes when you're not so little). Oh! and yes the drops are still "special", we will keep what they actually are a secret. ;) We also put cooled, used tea bags over his eyes for about 20 mins each eye. It's supposed to draw out the ickiness and bring down the puffiness.

Apparently breast milk is also an excellent cure for ear infections too. I will keep that in mind in case anyone gets one. Thankfully none of the kiddos have really ever gotten ear infections.

Another home remedy I have discovered is with Apple cider vineger. Now that Sean is all cleared up, Elizabeth and I now have a cold. Well, mostly just me. She's pretty much just got a snotty nose and was only miserable for one day (another score for mommy's milk). Me, on the other hand, I'm just feeling crappy! And the fact that I really cant take anything has made it all the more fun. My throat in particular has been incredibly painful. I was up early in the morning hacking up a lung when I decided to do a search on a remedy for sore throat/cough. Now, I've always known the whole gargle salt water - blek!! But you're supposed to finish a whole glass and do it very frequently. Last night I found a remedy, you put 2 Tbsp of Apple Cider Vineger in a glass of water (I prefer ice cold water) and gargle a mouthful 2 times. You repeat it every hour or as needed. It's a bit more pleasant than the salt water. I havent quite made it every hour but I've been trying to do it as often as I can and my throat, just after a few hours is leaps and bounds better!

Vineger! Another one of God's cure-all gifts!! :)

I'm going to SCREAM!!!!

I am so sick of this SICKNESS!! Go away!! and dont ever come back you terrible terrible bug!

I guess this is payback for missing the bug completely last year. Maybe next year will be sick free (cup is half full). ;)

Sean has pink eye now! REALLY bad. Much worse than what Ryan had. Ry was all cleared up at the beginning of the week so I'm not sure if this is from him or not. But where ever it came from, he's got it.

Yesterday night we made it to Ladies night at church (the men/boys all went bowling). We had a guest Missionary come speak to us about leading someone to Christ. It was really informative. Elizabeth had a miserable time though. I dont know what was up with her but she just SCREAMED whenever anyone came up to her. She's never done that before, she usually greets people with smiles. She must have just decided she doesnt like "strangers" now I guess. Not that any of them were strangers *shrugs*.

After the men all came back, I noticed Sean's eye was bright red (wasnt like that when we left). We got home and checked it out, sure enough, gunk all over. We put some of that medicine that we got from the doctor (we never used for Ryan) on Sean before bed. He hated it! No suprise, that gel stuff is nasty. This morning he woke up, now both eyes infected and he's so miserable.

I did some research about treating pink eye and apparently one very affective way (and painless) is using breastmilk. Well, I got some of that!! Apparently the antibodies in it attack and kill the bacteria in pink eye - amazing! We're giving it a try. We didnt tell Sean that's what it is. I just sterilize an eye dropper and drop it in his eye that way. We just tell him it's special drops. LOL And though he hates having either type of "medicine" he prefers the special drops over the gel, so that's good.

I know it sounds wierd but I'm not suprised. You can use breastmilk for so many things, it's amazing! It clears up pink eye (amazingly enough something that babies get so often and easily), diaper rash, any kind of scratches/boo boos (works like neosporin), and so many other things. What a wonderful God we have that made something so simple but so wonderful in so many ways!

Of course, now we're not sure how this pink eye is going to affect his doctor appointment on Monday.

Sit down and have a cup of tea with me

Go on! Go fix yourself a cup of tea, coffee, hot chocolate and come back so I can fill you in on what's been going on the past few days.

(waits patiently... takes a little sip of her freshly brewed tea...)

Signs of spring are showing up everywhere, and I tell you what, I cant wait until it gets here. I'm tired of sick season! Did I tell you Ryan had pink-eye over the weekend? He's finally over that and back in school but UGH! Thankfully none of the rest of us got it. The doc gave us antibiotics but we didnt need to give them to him. It was clearing up fine on its own.

OH! but it's never a dull moment in our household. Dennis walked through the door the other day with a somber look on his face. I said, "what wrong?" (thinking OH POOP!) As he was driving home, in his "new" 1980-something Mercedes, the muffler fell off. ARGH! What is it with us and getting a 2nd car then just a few short weeks later something catastrophic happens to the car? We found a Mercedes mechanic in town so he's going to take it over there and hopefully get some help. That is if they can understand him. LOL

Today we finally were able to get the process started on getting Elizabeth her US birth certificate and passport. Unfortunately we wont be able to start her Social Security card until we get all that stuff back. I'm bummed because we cant do our taxes until we get her SSN. Oh well, good thing they give us an extension to do all that while overseas.

I know I'm REALLY behind on posting pictures of Ella. I just have been busy with one crazy event after another. I have 2 pictures to tide you over though ;). They are the pictures they took of her for her passport. The first one, she was still sleeping:



But fortunately for us, the photo wasnt the right size... you know how picky passport photos are.

This next one, she just woke up and was in a wonderful mood. (notice the shirt, and what it says ;) )


She's such a cutie chubster! I cant wait until her doctor's appointment at the end of the month to see how much she weighs.

Tomorrow Dennis has off work so besides going to the auto mechanic, we're going to try and go to a Bazaar that's being held on base. Should be fun. :) Then tomorrow night is Ladies night at church (the men/boys are going bowling). I'm praying everyone stays healthy and cars stay functioning so we can go.

Well my cup of tea is empty and the laptop keeps crashing so I guess I should get going. Enjoy your weekend! I hope it's sunny and warm where you are.

Doctor's appointments and other news!

Sean had his doctor appointments on Friday and today to run some tests on his stomach. They had him drink several different types of drinks testing fructose, bacteria and today was lactose. After drinking the stuff he had to blow into a tube several times over a period of a few hours. All of the tests have come back negative. They also did a sonogram to make sure all his "insides" are functioning properly - they are ;). So all that means, basically, we still arent sure why he's been throwing up.

They wanted to do the MRI today. They sprung that on Dennis just as they were about to leave but we werent prepared for that to happen today. It has been rescheduled for next Monday (the 16th). UGH! I cant wait until all this is over with! I was secretly hoping they'd find something today, just so we'd know what was wrong and wouldnt have to do the MRI. I'm dreading that! I dont want him to be drugged, I dont want him to have to go into a big scary machine. (obviously I'm keeping the "big scary" part to myself and not telling him that)

(changes position in seat like a tv news reporter facing camera 2)

In other news, we have decided that we are going to give homeschooling a try for next year and there after. This decision has been weighing heavy on my mind lately. After all that we have been through with Sean, it's really caused me to consider homeschooling the boys. Trust me, I havent taken this matter lightly at all! Every school day the boys travel for a total of 2 hours to and from school. Right away, when they get home, I have to shuttle Ryan either outside or upstairs so that Sean can start his homework. By the time he gets his homework done, it's pretty much dinner time. After dinner, they're lucky to have an hour to play before we need to start getting ready for bed - which of course needs to be nice and early since they have to get up at the crack of dawn to catch the bus. There's barely any time for play, especially for Sean. Extra-curricular type activities are non-existant for us... there's just no time. Recently we've transferred Sean to a different cubscout den so he can start going again but those nights are even more hectic. Going to church on Weds nights? not even possible, and Sunday nights is extremely difficult. Their Biblical education is very little.

My biggest concerns about homeschooling have been:

• socialization - this is a big one, especially for Ryan. He can be very shy and going to school has helped him come out of his shell. Unfortunately some of the things that have come out of his "shell" lately are less than desirable.
• am I going to be able to teach them what they need to know? This is the scariest part for me, especially as hard as Sean and I butt heads sometimes.
• my own personal time - I have to admit, it was nice having the day to myself sometimes. Go to the store without kids in tow, etc

Thankfully, God has provided and has addressed my concerns.

• Socially, the boys will not be lacking. We have church, cubscouts (Ryan will be able to join with the next school year) and there's also a very large homeschool group here on base. They meet for P.E., field trips, get-togethers, etc. Plus homeschooling will free up time for us so that we can do more things. Sean has expressed interest in Soccer.
• Can I teach them? A friend at church also homeschools her children and she has been there for me to answer my millions of questions about the curriculum. The one that I'm leaning towards using looks really great! The parent's guides are simplified to the point that it even tells you what to teach and what questions to ask.
• My own time.... this has been probably the biggest struggle because basically it's an excuse. Do I really do all that much on my own? No, not really. Half the time I sit on my butt bored, waiting for the boys to come home. When I do go out, usually we are doing it as a family. I'm just being realistic.

The boys are actually excited - and yes, they are aware that homeschool does not mean they can play video games all day. lol Funny thing, the school sent home a paper for all the students saying they need to know by the 16th who will be enrolled next year and who will not. Sean pointed to the paper last night and said, "mom, make sure you check NO [he will not be in school] on this because we are going to be homeschooled, right?" LOL

I know I've blabbered quite on about this but I wanted to present our decision fully. I havent been very vocal about it because I wanted to be sure this is what we want to do before I said anything. I think homeschool will bring us closer as a family and to God and we'll be able to see more of Germany and Europe while we are here. :) Field trips are always fun! ;)

Now please pick your jaw up off the floor at the thought of me and the idea of homeschooling. HAHA!!!