August 30, 2010

We took a couple of days off of school work because the boys were really complaining and throwing fits about it and, of course, that is not how I want it to be. After giving it some thought, I have cut way back on how much we do so that their lessons are very quick.

Now we will do a lesson in OPGTR on one day and then practice reading the next day. And we will learn how to properly write a new letter one day and then practice writing it more the next day. We will move through things more slowly overall but I think it will work out better for them. Eventually they will build up more tolerance and then we can start extending lessons a bit more. We started this today and it went very well.

Another thing I started doing was typing up the OPGTR lessons so I could leave out all of the instructions to me. This makes the lesson seem much shorter to them. When they would look at the page in the book with the instructions to me, it would be a bit overwhelming to them. It made them think the lesson was much bigger/longer than it really was. So I did this today and I printed out a page for each of us to hold, which they loved. Then I had a highlighter and I would highlight some words/sentences for Ben to read and some for Nick to read. They really liked this. Of course, for children their age, novelty is fun and exciting so everything is great the first time we do it. We'll see how they are doing with it a week from now.

They love doing our Bible devotional so that is not an issue. They love being read to so that is not an issue either. Today we started re-reading My Father's Dragon. It's been quite a while since we read it and I think they had forgotten parts of it. They really enjoyed it today and kept wanting me to read more.

We are still listening to the unabridged version of Peter Pan when we are riding in the car. We have all really enjoyed this so much. I think we have probably listened to it 10 times by now and I think I have enjoyed it as much as they have, most of the time. I really enjoy the accent of the guy who reads it and the way he does the voices. It sure makes for quiet car rides. I just ordered two more audio books, Little House in the Big Woods and Treasure Island. I hope we will enjoy these as much as we have Peter Pan. We also listen to Just So stories and a CD of poems by various authors. The poems are ones that boys in particular would enjoy and we have all enjoyed those too. We listen to Peter and the Wolf, various classical composers and scripture verses that have been put to music while we are in the house, usually while we are preparing, eating and cleaning up after meals, while I am doing chores and the boys are playing, etc. We all enjoy that a lot too.

I was also thinking about how to give them incentive to read aloud more to us and to also strive for better behavior. So today I introduced the marble jar and a large bowl of marbles. They get to put a marble in the jar when they read a book (Bob books and some other readers I ordered from Modern Curriculum Press). This is great because they immediately wanted to read more books to us. They ended up reading two or three books to me and then another two or three to their daddy. I am amazed at how well they are both reading. I have ordered some more difficult books that have the more recent ending blends we have already studied.

In other news, they are really into this children's charades game that they picked up at a garage sale recently. It is really fun for everyone and it is funny to watch them try to act things out.

And, in still other news, we are hoping to receive estimates from three different builders this week. We have actually already received one but need some clarification about it. Another one has said he is ready to meet to go over his numbers and we are trying to coordinate a time. The third one I happened to see out at a burger place on Sunday afternoon and he said they are hoping to have their numbers ready this week too. Who knows, maybe we will actually be ready to make this decision within the next week. I hope! It is very interesting to see how this has evolved and where we have ended up. I have no doubts that God is in control and is leading this effort. I am at peace knowing His timing is perfect and He knows what is best for us.

Odds and Ends: The boys and I have colds. We went to the church near our old house for the last time yesterday. We plan to start visiting churches in the town where we will be building our new house now. The boys are doing well in both swimming and soccer and are enjoying both. Both are once a week now. When it cools down a bit, we are planning to move our piano from my sister's house to our rental house. Hopefully by then I will have found someone who gives piano lessons.

Here are a few more pictures of the boys. I really need to start taking more pictures. I have not been as good about that lately. Must do better.

These pics were taken just before we moved. I think this was their last bath in our old house. I told them to show me their muscles and these were the poses I got.




This was when Ben was totally into shooting his bow and arrows. He is actually quite good at it. Their cousin gave them this shirt and they use it for dressing up like a hunter.
I need to get some things done while the boys are out running through the sprinklers. Until later.

August 24, 2010

The boys are doing very well with their reading and writing lessons and we are enjoying our daily devotionals. We are at lesson 50 in The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading, which is where we start learning the beginning two consonant blends (TR, FR, etc.). We just finished the ending 2 consonant blends and they are reading 4 letter words now. We try to spend some time with them reading to me also.

Yesterday was not a very good day for us, for several reasons. But one thing I am learning is how much is enough for them and when to stop. It is easy to fall into that mode of "let's just finish this lesson" because I like to finish things:). But it is better to leave them feeling successful and wanting more. So, I need to remember that and make our lessons a bit shorter.

I need to remind myself that they would not be going to Kindergarten until next year so there is no reason to push. Everything they learn this year is gravy and really next year too, as we really don't HAVE to start homeschooling here until 1st grade.

It has continued to be 100+ here most days. Combine that with our new back yard, which is not very big and is sloped to the point that we cannot put up the swingset, and you get two little boys that are not spending enough time outside and not getting enough exercise. We try to get out to the parks first thing in the mornings but we can't do it every day and we really have not found a great park near here. Some OK ones but not great. We may need to drive further.

Well, short post because quiet time is over and boys need some attention from mom. Later.

August 11, 2010

We are getting back in to our routines around here and that feels nice. I can tell everyone is feeling a bit more settled and behavior has improved greatly.

I am noticing a number of changes as the boys approach the 5 year-old mark.

They are now spending time each day very contentedly playing alone. Typically this means that Ben is pretending something, which is what he spends the majority of his time doing, and Nick is building, coloring or playing with some type of vehicle.

Behavior is improving in ways I have read about for 5 year olds, that generally they tend to want to obey and please more.

They are really getting tall and really looking like older boys rather than little guys. Maybe it is just that they recently got their hair cut and it had gotten so much longer but they just look so different to me.

I am constantly amazed at how much they can do for themselves and how well they do it. It is a pleasure to watch them. What a blessing it is to watch them grow and change each day and, my goodness, how much I learn and change along with them.

We had a long meeting with our potential GC guy. In short, he is still coming in very high on his numbers, although he is still gathering numbers and trying to fine tune them. He ended up staying in our guest room Friday night and we all drove up to the property on Saturday. We had a chance to go through a house that is being built so he was able to see how these homes are really being decked out. We also had a chance to pick up a flyer at the office that listed new homes for sell and square footage, so we all saw how overpriced his numbers were. It was definitely what we all needed to see. So he is reworking his numbers and we have contacted three local builders who have all built multiple homes in the community where we own our lot. All three of them are going to provide bids and we have also just received a new bid from another SIP dealer. This is all great because it ensures that we will end up getting a decent, fair price for the SIP materials and also for the rest of the materials and labor. The husband and I are both feeling much better about the situation this week. I am just hoping that we can get these numbers together quickly so we can get moving. It would be nice to have the house dried in before winter weather hits.

Of course, we are still dealing with 100+ degree weather around here. This is the hottest summer we have experienced since moving to Oklahoma. It is so hot that you really just can't stand being outside unless you are swimming or playing in water in some form or another. Even if we go out first thing in the morning, it is not long before the boys are wanting to come back in because they are too hot. It really is brutal. I have lost track of how many consecutive days we have had of 100+ degree weather but I would not be surprised if we are setting a record. I really feel bad for the boys because I know they miss playing outside and we all end up feeling a bit couped up. I try to think of things that we can go do but I know they are not getting the exercise their bodies really need. We still have swimming once a week and soccer once a week so that helps a little...but not enough.

I am just so very thankful that we have air conditioning. I can't imagine going through this without it. I don't know how we did it when I was a child because we did not have air conditioning until I was in 7th grade. We slept with the windows open and the fans on, but the world was a safer place back then, or at least it seemed like it was (of course I was living in a small town of around 900 people at that time, where everyone knew everyone).

Oh, the other news worthy thing is that we have started having an official reading lesson every day. Now, we have only done this for three days so far but it has really gone well. The boys are really enjoying it and Ben even asked to do it this morning. And they are both doing extremely well with it too. Today we were learning about words that end with 'ck'. One interesting thing is that Nick seems to be catching on very very quickly right now, even faster than Ben, but Ben was catching on faster the last time we were working on it.  Interesting how they bounce back and forth. Probably has something to do with who is going through a growth spurt or something.

Regardless, it is so fun to see them learning to read and to watch them get excited about their successes. They really enjoy learning to spell also so that is probably the next thing I will introduce 'officially', once we get a routine down with the reading lessons. I am starting slow and adding on as we go, a little at a time, and we will be keeping it fun and lessons will be short. Today we finished our reading lesson in probably about 10 or 15 minutes tops. Yesterday's was a bit longer. Tomorrow they are so short we will probably be able to do two but I will play it by ear and see what they are up for, as I don't want to push too hard.

I am just so relieved that we have this year to learn to read and start getting used to the idea of doing school. Hopefully by next year, when they officially have to start K, it will be easy for all of us because we will already know the routine and we will simply be adding some additional subjects.

It's late. Time for bed. Goodnight.

August 5, 2010 Part 2

We are just starting to get back to a somewhat normal routine. We closed on our house last Friday, which was such a relief. It was a relief to be finished cleaning it and watering the plants every other day. I was so done with that. The buyers have big plans for remodeling and updating pretty much everything. From the sounds of it, it will be very beautiful and up to date when they are finished. I hope they will be very happy there.

We are now living in a rental home and I think it is going to work out very well for us. It has the same number of bedrooms and baths as our old house, although it does not have an office so we are using one of the bedrooms for the husband's office. The rooms are all smaller across the board, with the exception of the master bedroom which is huge.

We are using the small dining room as a school room / arts and crafts room. It is really coming in very handy to have an extra table set up with all of the crayons, markers, glue, etc. that does not have to be put away before every meal. The boys are in there drawing, coloring or making something at least a couple of times a day, if not more.

The downside is that there is much less floor space for the boys to just get down on the floor and play. There is a nice sized playroom upstairs and they do play up there regularly but, unless I am up there, they spend much more time overall playing downstairs and they bring their toys downstairs to play. Even though it means things are a bit messier, I am really OK with that because I enjoy having them nearby. So, we are making it work.

We have put tubs of some of the most used toys under the ottoman in the living room, we still have the two big baskets of toys in there but we are still constantly having to tote things back and forth between upstairs and down. It really is not too bad though. We place things on the bottom steps and the person who goes up next is suppose to take a load with them. It's working for us and I am more patient about letting things be a bit more strewn about.

Overall, it is a great rental house (although the yard is not) so I am very thankful to be able to live here for now.

The boys are still in swimming classes. They took lessons twice a week during June and July and just switched back to once a week in August. They have had some great instructors at this place. One in particular was a favorite this summer. Mr. Michael stole their hearts at the first lesson in June when he pretended pirates with them. They had him all through June and most of July and then he left to get ready to go back to college. He was so fun and they really learned a lot with him.

They are now back with the teacher they had last fall, whom they love, so we are happy about that. Funny thing is that I ended up kind of having a preference for the men teachers (they have had two men and two women so far) because they seem to push them a bit more. Also, I think the boys tend to prefer them more because they would throw them in the air a bit when sending them off for a swim. I think they were a bit more rough-ish, in a good way, for the boys and they will likely miss that.

They are both swimming under water for about 5 to 7 feet. Ben requires less assistance then Nick currently, although this tends to switch back and forth. Nick was having an issue with trying to go too fast and ended up thrashing a lot but Mr. Michael was able to get him to slow down a bit and he is now improving fast. They are learning to dive (sitting and kneeling on the side) and they jump off the diving board and swim to the side.

We have them signed up through December and will likely have them go through the spring also, with plans to make sure they get plenty of pool time next summer. We'll see how it goes. I would not mind if one or both of the boys decided, at some time, they want this to be their sport and would like to do competition swimming. But, everyone has their own favorites so I will wait until they are older and see what they choose.

Their soccer lessons will be over in another couple of weeks and I'm not sure right now if we are going to sign them up for the fall. I have to talk to the dad about that. The boys are game, although I think Ben is a bit half hearted about it at times.

We are planning to start a little 'official' schooling soon. The boys have friends who are starting kindergarten this year so they want to start school too. We'll see how much they really want to do it once it becomes more routine. I think Ben will be into it but Nick might not. I am thankful that we have another year before they are officially required to start so we can play it by ear this year. We will be focusing on learning to read, write and spell this year. Once we get going and get comfortable with our new routine, we will likely throw in some math also.

I was unpacking all of the homeschool materials the other day and Nick saw the readers. I had put them up a while back, when they had lost interest and we were too busy with other things. I wanted them to be out of sight for a while so they would be fresh and new when we brought them back out. Nick was so happy to see them, he sat down and read 3 or 4 of them in a row to me and then read another one to the dad, while Ben was reading one to me. I was very impressed that they really had not lost anything we had learned, even though we had not done anything in months. If anything, Nick was reading better than before. They have amazing memories and such a natural desire to learn, it is awesome.

We have so many letters and books and learning materials around that they are always learning even when it is not my focus. They are both wanting to learn to read so I think they will be into the reading lessons we do. They are also always asking me how to spell words, as they write notes or lists or whatever. Ben knows how to write all of his capital letters and is working on lower case. Nick probably does not know how to write all of his capital letters yet but he knows many, if not most. Today he showed me that he had learned how to write a small h. He was so pleased with himself. It really is amazing how much they learn just because they are interested. I think if I keep giving them real life reasons to learn to spell and write, they will be into that also. Today I was telling them that once they learned to write and spell, they could write secret notes to daddy and sneak them into his lunch or briefcase and he would find them at work. They absolutely loved that idea and were wanting to do it right away.

We will continue to use The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading. We will be using All About Spelling, Zaner-Bloser Handwriting and, if we get to it, Right Start Math. We have some other fun things to add into the mix for literature related art projects and some phonics workbook pages, just in case someone wants to do them here and there. Ben did one today but Nick was busy doing something else.

Add to all of this, the building of the new house. We have a meeting scheduled tomorrow morning with the potential GC to go over the detailed estimates he has developed. This should be an interesting meeting. I am very hopeful that we will be ready to move ahead after this meeting but it would not surprise me if we have to revisit a few things first. My mom, sister and niece (and maybe my nephew) are coming tomorrow for a visit and will play with the boys while we meet with the GC.

Well, it's getting late and, as usual, this is getting very long so I had better sign off for now. Nick will most likely be up sometime between 6:00 and 6:30 in the morning, no matter what time he got to bed, so I need to get some rest:). Goodnight.

August 5, 2010

It has been a long time since I have posted any pictures and the boys have really grown. These are from this afternoon at soccer practice.

Below is Ben. Hasn't he grown? His hair is longer than ever, I think. Funny enough, I am really liking both of the boys with longer-ish hair right now, although I think the dad is planning to cut it this weekend.


Cousin Jana got the boys these cricket jerserys when she was in India recently for a mission trip sponsored by her university. It was good timing because they have worked out perfectly for soccer.
Below is Nick. He was not very interested in posing for me so I just took some action shots of him. This kid is an enigma. He is all action and movement or he is all sit and read/color/play with legos, etc. He is all happy-go-lucky or he is all angry/fit-throwing/yelling (reminds me of what they said about Tinkerbell in Peter Pan, which we listen to often when driving in the car). His behavior seems to indicate that he has struggled with adjusting to the upheaval of the move, although I think we may be leveling out now. He really needs a lot of consistency and routine or at least lots of notice when our schedule is going to change. Last minute changes, unless they are exciting and fun, are difficult for him. I am learning and we are working on it and I think we are making good progress.
He loves loves loves anything to do with sports.
Nick had stopped long enough for me to take a quick picture. As soon as Ben saw this, he stepped into the picture also. Just as I was snapping the picture, Nick started to put his arm around Ben. How sweet is that? They are the best of friends. They play together for long periods of time and then, at times, they also purposely irritate each other (and me) for long periods of time. But, they are definitely the best of buds.

This is a start; more to come....

July 14, 2010

We are crazy busy around here these days but things are going well and we feel very blessed indeed. We made it through inspections and we are finishing up a few fix-it type things the buyers requested around the house. We have leased a house in a neighboring town. It is smaller than the one we are in by about 1,000 square feet but it is much bigger than the first house we considered leasing so I think it will do quite nicely. The husband saw it for the first time this evening and I think he was pleased as well. We spent some time going through the house and figuring out where we would put everything, what would have to go to storage and what could come out of storage. We have movers scheduled for one week from tomorrow, although we don't close until July 30th, so we have plenty of time to get this place cleaned up....and we will need it because the husband has a limited number of days off between now and closing.

The back yard at the rental house is not very big and it also slopes downwards away from the house. This might be a bit of a challenge for the swing set, jungle gym, swimming pool and sandbox. We may not be able to set the swimming pool up at all and, as much as I really want to bring the sandbox, I think the husband would rather not. So, we'll see. However it works out, we'll make it work, one way or another.

We are so looking forward to getting this move over with and not having to worry about maintaining this house, while we are working towards building the new one. It will be very nice to be able to just focus on the details of the new house and to also be able to put some focus on a little homeschooling.

The boys are doing pretty well with everything so far. The hardest days for them (and us) is when we are so busy that we don't have enough time for relaxing, reading and playing with them. They have been playing together very well though and they are also getting to the point where one might be playing with something in one room while the other is playing with something else in another room, totally by their own choice. They did that for a good amount of time this morning and it was so nice. I think it is really good for them and I am glad to see them start doing this.

We have talked a lot about the move so I think they have a good understanding of what to expect. Their new bedroom is much smaller than their current one though. It might be a bit of a challenge to fit all of their furniture in but I'm sure we can make it work.

We have decided to use a general contractor to help us build the new house. He is doing it on a cost-plus basis and we will also be assisting quite a bit. After seeing how helpful and important it has been to have the real estate agents helping us to sell our house, we decided (with much prodding from them) that we need a professional to help us build our new house. After discussing many of the details during our first meeting with the GC, the husband and I were both agreeing that this was the right decision. Actually, we have met with him before a couple of times. He is spending the first two weeks putting together a detailed cost estimate for us so we should be getting something back around the end of next week.

More to come. I'm so tired. Time for bed.

June 30, 2010

We sold our house! Yay!  Our closing date is at the end of July so we have one month to find a rental house and move out... AND start ground breaking on our new house (ideally we would like to start as soon as possible after we close). Yikes! It is going to be a busy month

So, that's our big summer news. In other day-to-day news, the boys are doing great and growing like little weeds. I think Ben must be going through a major growth spurt because he is really clumsy right now. He fell down while we were out walking yesterday evening and skinned his hip and elbow. Poor little fellow. Nick's behavior has definitely improved, although I have seen bits of the more volatile behavior during the past week, when we were very busy making suggested changes to the house. He has a hard time dealing with this type of activity but, hopefully, we are learning how to help him get through these times a bit easier. He is such a fun, happy child. It makes me sad to see him start acting out, while knowing it is due to the changes and chaos going on around him. Yesterday we just stayed home, relaxed, played, teased, tickled, cuddled and had a fun day and he was his old self again and he is doing well today too so I know that helped. Now that I am aware of the pattern, I think we can take steps to help him through the majority of the upcoming major changes.

The dad has been taking one of them with him when he runs errands. I find it interesting that, most of the time, it is Ben who wants to go and Nick who wants to stay home with me. Nick has always been a real daddy's boy and Ben tends to be a bit more of a mommy's boy right now, so this has surprised me.

A week or two ago, the dear husband and I split up and each of us took one child out for breakfast. He took Nick to IHOP and I took Ben to The Village Inn. The waitress was talking to Ben (he is such a non-stop talker these days) and she asked him how old he was. He said "I'm four and she (pointing to me) is 47. Half the time he has told whoever he meets everyone's age, that he and Nick are not twins but are brothers, are adopted, from Russia, etc. within the first 3 minutes of meeting them. People really get a kick out of him.

Must go now. Sorry I have not posted any pictures in a while. I will try to do that soon.

June 18, 2010

I have been doing a lot of research on the homeschool front, trying to get prepared for August. I was just talking to the husband about how difficult it is, as a newbie to this, to pick curricula. First I have to determine whether or not I think I can teach it. After reviewing many, many different options and considering this is all new to me, I think I need to go with something that is pretty well laid out and scripted. After using scripted materials for a year, or a few years, I may very well be able to move towards a more flexible, less scripted type of option but, for a newbie like me who is still a bit unsure of myself and a bit nervous, I think going with the scripted options are probably a pretty good approach for now. Then I have to try to determine which options might best fit the learning style of the boys. During these younger years, my best guess is that the more fun, hands-on, games type of learning (where possible) will be what they would enjoy the most. These typically require more mom time but, at this age (non-readers), everything requires mom time anyway.
We are planning to 'officially' start homeschooling in the fall. The boys and I have discussed it several times. I think Ben is definitely ready but, the other day, Nick said he just wants to play. Of course he does not turn 5 until November so I may just need to be very flexible with him until after the new year and gear up a bit more then, if he seems more ready. I will play it by ear a bit with him and see how it goes. When he sees Ben learning, he may just decide he wants to do it too. Regardless, I plan to start out slowly, probably only doing Bible/devotion/memory work, phonics and handwriting work to begin with, with some artwork thrown in.

There is a children's Bible I have been wanting to order for the longest time, as it seems to be mentioned everywhere I look, it has been around for a long time and people rave about it. I found out today that the owner of the used homeschool bookstore has a copy she was planning to resale so she is going to sale it to me. It is the Child's Story Bible by Catherine Vos so, if it is as good as the reviews indicate, I plan to start out using this and also my regular Bible, along with some children's devotion materials we already have. We have always read from the children's Bible at bed time and we may still continue to do so, as it will be one less thing that is added to our school day and it is a nice way to end the day. So we may just start out our school day with a devotion and some scripture memory work.

For phonics we will continue on with the OPGTR, along with some little phonics games and time for them to read to me, only we will begin doing it on a daily basis.

For writing we will be using Zaner-Bloser Handwriting K.

I am planning to create a book basket of good literature I have selected for us to read during the school year. I will set aside at least 30 minutes each school day for read alouds and we will likely spend more than 30 minutes, since the boys really enjoy this.

I might finish the day with some sort of art project, since they really enjoy this and it will seem like a treat to them. I'll play this by ear because, by the time we get to this, they might just be ready to go play, but you never know.

My initial thought is that I will work with one while the other one plays quietly in another room or outside and then they can switch places. If this doesn't work, I might have to find some file folder games to keep them busy.

So, we will do this for a few weeks, until we get our routine down. We will likely start out with shorter time frames and we will build to 15 to 30 minutes each for Bible, phonics, handwriting and read alouds. I don't have a good feel right now as to what the optimum teaching time will be for them. It will depend on whether they really enjoy it or whether they are not so into what we are doing. I will adjust accordingly this year, since they are technically still PreK4.

After we are comfortable with our new routine, I will add in Right Start Math (possibly sometimes supplemented by either Miquon Math or Singapore Math) and All About Spelling. We will again start off slowly and build up our time to 15 to 30 minutes.

I think my overall target for time will be 2.5 hours (or less) in the morning for Bible, phonics, handwriting, math and spelling. Bible, math and spelling we can all do together and then I will need to do phonics and handwriting separately, I think. I may find that we could do handwriting together but math and/or spelling has to be done separately. I will adjust as necessary. I am thinking we might save read aloud time for the afternoons but we'll see how it goes.

So, I think that's it. I think that's the plan, for now. I plan to be very flexible and possibly push some of it off until January, if I find they are simply not mature enough yet. They have both shown that they are ready cognitively to learn to read so I won't be as flexible with that.

And with that, quiet time is over and we are late today so I need to go wake up Nick. Otherwise he will be wide awake when it is bedtime. I have tons of pictures I need to post...and many other things I need to do. I will get to eventually:). Bye for now.

May 24, 2010

Not a lot going on around here really. The dear husband started his new job last Monday. It is going to take some getting use to, since the hours are random, or so it seems so far. The husband says a pattern will emerge so we will see. So far, he worked two days (Mon, Tues) was off two days (Wed, Thurs), then worked three days (Fri, Sat, Sun), is now off today and tomorrow, will work again on Wed, Thurs and will then be off Fri, Sat and Sun. It really throws us off on what day is which. Today seems like Saturday to us, although the boys and I went to church yesterday so it is really confusing. I keep having to remind myself what day it is. The husband has worked these kinds of schedules many times before in the past but I have always been on a Mon-Fri work week. Once we get used to, I think we will really like it. I think it will be nice for homeschooling too. But first we have to get used to it:).

In other news, the boys finished their swimming class and will start another session two days a week in June. I can tell Ben is a bit nervous about a new class and possibly (probably) a new teacher because he keeps saying he does not want to do more things. I think he will do fine though. I also signed the boys up for an introductory soccer class and they (especially Nick) are very excited about it. They will start that in June also and it runs through August. It is only once a week for 50 minutes but I think that will be plenty since they will be swimming twice a week in June and possibly July.

The husband had a week off between jobs so we went to Branson Mo for a couple of days last week. Unfortunately it rained quite a bit but we were able find a break in the rain and make it to Silver Dollar City one day. We all had a great time and the boys especially loved it. We also took them to play mini-golf and they absolutely loved it. They keep asking to play again so we'll have to find some time to fit it in again soon. We purposely picked a hotel that had an indoor pool and it also had a water slide so we were very excited. Although the hotel was nice and served a wonderful complimentary breakfast buffet, the pool and slide were a bust. Even though they were indoor, the water was not heated and was just too cold for the boys to enjoy it. The slide would have been a ball if the boys had been a couple of years older and more confident swimmers but it was too fast for them right now plus, again, the water was too cold. They had fun in the very large hot tub though and they continue to have a lot of fun in our bath tub at home:). They wear their goggles and they go under to retrieve things they have put there, pretending they are in a swimming pool.

The boys are doing great. A friend of mine once said that she could see major changes in her young ones every 6 months and I can definitely see that. They are doing so much on their own and are always asking to help do whatever we are doing. They love helping me cook. They are quite the little sponges and are always cracking me up with the funny things they say. More than ever before, they really are such little, independent people with their own opinions and things they want to discuss and do. Ben has an amazing vocabulary and is always interrupting to ask what a word means. Last week two different people mentioned what a great vocab he has. I think he just likes words. He was the first one to use 'rubbish' in a sentence when he was barely three, or something like that. He picked it up from Thomas the Train stories. He is constantly using large words and it is so funny to hear him try to say them. He does a pretty good job, good enough that I understand what he is saying. I was doing something the other day and he came in and said he wanted to sit next to me because he wanted to "have a conversation". I had just explained that word to him not long before. It is as if he purposely seeks out opportunities to use new words and he has a mind like a steel trap.

Both boys are still doing very well with reading cvc words and learning how to write their letters. We do this in a very hit or miss way, just when one of us thinks of it and they are in the mood. They have said they want to start doing formal school in the fall, when the kids go back to school. They have a good friend who will be starting K in the fall so they want to be like him. He is only 3 months older than Ben and 5 months older than Nick but they missed the cut off and he didn't. I am thankful they did because it gives us some slack. We don't have to start formal schooling officially until 2011. Hopefully by starting some of it this fall we will be a bit ahead which will take some pressure off of me, the newbie homeschooling mom. I am a bit nervous about it because Nick tends to be the kind of kid who does not want to be shown how to do anything. He wants to do everything his way and he always pushes to find out where exactly the boundaries are in every situation. (His daddy says that someday Nick is going to be a wonderful leader.) So I'm going to have to figure out how to manage that. Ben will likely be pretty easy because he is a bit more of a pleaser and is very willing to take instruction. The hardest person to manage will be me:). I have to be more disciplined, sticking to a schedule, following through, being consistent, etc..... I have had it pretty easy for a while now, getting to play and have fun and just do whatever we feel like doing when the mood hits us. Homeschooling will change that a bit. Hopefully since we are starting this fall, we can start slowly and ramp up and get used to it before we really have to be doing it formally.

This is becoming a book and I am tired so off to bed.

May 6, 2010

Sorry I have not been updating very regularly lately. I have simply not been very motivated, for whatever reason. I think this is the first time since I started blogging that I have felt this way. There are other things I want to be doing and blogging is taking a lower priority these days.

At lunch today the boys and I were looking at their baby pictures on my laptop. They love to do this and it sure brings back many sweet memories. We are now having our daily quiet time and Ben is on the couch in the living room, pretending he is a baby once more and playing with pillows. He saw pics of himself and Nick doing this when they were babies and he wanted to pretend it.

We really needed our quiet time today because we all had to get up early today. I had a bone density scan and, as it turns out, I have very healthy bones. The place where I went with my broken foot recommended I have this done and my mom and sister have been wanting me to have it done also, as I never drank milk or ate much cheese when I was growing up. Thankfully, I have the bones of a young adult. Not bad for a 47 year old woman.

My foot is doing pretty well these days. It still hurts at times but, for the most part, it is fine (as long as I don't run or jump rope or any such thing that tends to slam it to the ground to hard:).

Yesterday the boys and I went to Target and bought a slip-n-slide. The boys had a blast on it yesterday afternoon. Today Nick went outside while I was still putting sunscreen on Ben. He was trying to hook the hose up to it and he tore a great big hole in it. So much for that. $20 down the drain. Maybe that is why it said it was for 5 and up...although the boys can normally use toys that say 5 and up these days, since they are at or over 4.5. Oh well. Win some, lose some.

We had two house showings on the weekend and then two yesterday. It is interesting how they tend to come in spurts. We are still hopeful we will sell it soon. Time will tell. If not, we have some tentative plans for making this house more energy efficient and staying here.

Tomorrow is the husband's last day at his current job. He will be off next week for a short vacation and then will start his new job the following week. He has been very busy this week, finishing up some last minute things he wanted to finalize. I think he will still be an associate professor at this university and will be able to continue to do some research or something with them in the future. Hopefully it will work out the way he wants it to.

The new twin bed frames that we ordered for the boys came in the other day. The boys were very excited and the bed frames really look nice. I am very pleased with how they look, considering the low price we paid.

The boys will finish up their swimming lessons on Tuesday. They have done very well and are now swimming very short distances under water. The other two students did not show up on Tuesday so the boys had the entire time to just them. It was really nice. I have signed them up for the next set of lessons which will start in June. They will go twice a week for the month of June and we might do that for the month of July also...not sure yet. I think they go back to the semester lessons of one day a week starting in August. Not sure how long they will continue to go but I really want them to keep going for a while longer so they really learn to swim. I think if they quit now they would regress quickly.

Well, must go read my news now.

April 15, 2010

I can walk again so we have been very, very busy around here. It is so nice to be back to normal, or almost normal anyway. I still have some pain, especially if I walk too much. Overall it is doing pretty well though, even though I had a bit of a set back the other day when I tried to show the boys how to jump rope (not quite ready for that yet;).

I was able to go to the homeschool conference in Ohio and it was wonderful. They have so many classes and there were tons of people there. My friend and I really enjoyed our girl time together and a short break from real life but we were both very anxious to get home to our families. I was suppose to arrive back home late on Saturday (I left early on Thursday) but ended up missing my flight accidentally (it's a long story). The earliest flight I could get back arrived at noon on Sunday. I was really homesick on Saturday night, when I was there on my own.

It was so nice to get home to my family. The boys were very excited to see me and I was very excited to see them and my wonderful husband. He did a great job keeping the boys busy while I was away. I brought everyone a T-shirt. Mine says Homeschool Rocks!, the husband's says Homeschool Athletic Department and it has that 'athletic' T-shirt look and the shirts I got for the boys say CAUTION Unsocialized Homeschooler;). I also picked out some books for the boys and some CD's that have Jim Weiss telling the stories of some of the classics.

The husband's one comment about parenting alone for the weekend was "I didn't realize how difficult it is to keep the house picked up". So, it seems they did pretty well while I was away, and I knew they would. He is a great daddy.

I have not been very motivated to write in a while. We have been so busy, getting out and about, making up for lost time, that I have just not taken the time. This afternoon it is cloudy and grey and a bit on the rainy side. This morning was cloudy but it was not raining yet so we went shopping for new sandals for the boys. After a late lunch, we are having a lazy Friday afternoon. The boys are watching Winnie the Pooh and I am catching up on some computer time.

We had a couple look at the house on Wednesday. The real estate agent called today and they want to see it again tomorrow at 2:00, which is nice. It really is in great condition right now. We have fixed pretty much everything that needed to be fixed and it looks very nice. Everything outside is blooming, including my beautiful azaleas so the yard looks really pretty right now. I really think we will sell it sometime soon. Time will tell.

My dear husband has accepted another job with an urgent care group so he will be leaving his current job with a university. The new job will pay more and he will work less hours so that is a great thing all the way around. The only bad is that the new hours will be 12 hour days (8am to 8pm) but only three or four days a week, but he will also have to work his share of weekend days, as they are open on Saturdays and Sundays. The benefits package is good though and, overall, he will work less hours for more money so that is great. I am debating how to adjust our day so that the boys might be able to spend some time with their dad on those days he works. I'm sure we'll figure something out.

Last but not least is the latest little boy funny. Today I was fixing lunch for the boys and I asked them if they would rather have peas or broccoli with their sandwich. They both said broccoli and I repeated it in kind of a questioning, 'you're sure?' kind of way. Nick was sure he wanted broccoli and said, "Peas make my ears itch". He was the one who suggested peas for dinner a couple of nights ago. Peas making his ears itch is a new one for me. Not sure where he came up with that one but it was pretty funny.

That's all for now. Have a great weekend.

April 5, 2010

I took the knee scooter back today. I am very thankful I had it when I needed it and now I am very thankful that I no longer need it:). And, even better, I took off my walking boot this morning around 10:00 and have not put it back on since then. The boys and I had some shopping to do today and I just did not want to be taking the boot off and on all day long. I'm happy to say that the foot did pretty well overall.

I actually do very well unless I am on uneven ground or I step on something like a door threshold. We stopped to eat and let the boys play and that gave my foot a good break. This evening, it was feeling pretty good and I was able to even walk around the house without limping, which I thought was amazing. It seems that the more I use it, the better it gets and the faster it gets better. So, even though the doctor told me to wear the boot for another week, I think I am ahead of schedule. I am very excited about this. It is so nice to be almost back to normal.

We had a lovely three day weekend. Even though we had three days, we still ended up not coloring Easter eggs until Sunday afternoon. It was so funny because the boys kept talking about eating them. They asked to eat them before they had even colored them. Then we all had fun coloring the eggs and then they wanted to eat them. So we explained about hiding and finding them and they were excited about that. The dad hid the eggs in the side yard and then the boys went out and had a lot of fun finding them. I thought for sure they would ask to hide them again but they didn't. They just wanted to go inside and eat them. While we were peeling an egg for them to eat, Nick said that next year maybe we could hide them more than once. It was so funny. They each ate two eggs and then I put the rest in the fridge. This evening I mentioned that they had not eaten any of their eggs today and they said they really didn't like them that much. Funny boys.

I leave on Thursday morning for the homeschool convention in Ohio. I'm very excited and the boys are excited that the dad is going to take them to Incredible Pizza while I am gone. They love that place. Also, my sister and mom are coming to see the boys on Thursday and spend some time with them while the dad does some work thing that he forgot he had signed up for. I know they will have a fun time while I am gone, although I am also sure they will all be happy when I get back home:). I'm sure I will feel the same way. I will be back on Saturday night.

I am loving the weather right now. Everything is blooming and it seems the trees have leafed out almost over night. All of the red bud trees are out and everything is so beautiful. I love this time of year.

Time to go. Boys are in bed and the husband and I are going to watch a movie we rented.

March 30, 2010

The boys were playing outside while I was fixing lunch. I looked out the window to see Nick, lying down on the sidewalk spread-eagle, and Ben using sidewalk chalk to draw around him. Funny boys.

They are really doing great in their swim lessons. Today they both swam under water a few strokes out to the swim instructor who was waiting to catch them. I was very impressed, especially with Ben. He has come a long way from when we started. Nick is a little fish who spends more time under the water than on top of it these days. Ben is not far behind and wants to keep up with Nick so he pushes himself. Nick tries to keep up with Ben with reading so they are both good at challenging the other in areas where they need more growth. While I am on that subject, just a quick brag. Today Ben picked up one of the little short vowel sound readers I keep laying around and read the whole thing out loud to me. He was so proud of himself and I was pretty impressed with him too. We tend to work on reading in very short, sporadic spurts but they seem to be enjoying it so I think we will keep doing what we are doing for now.

I vacillate so much between getting started with formal lessons now or waiting until they are older. I have been vacillating on this now for a year. I had decided that we would start doing formal lessons when we returned from Arizona but then I broke my foot and was just not up for it. That is not how I wanted to start. Now spring has arrived, it is warm and sunny and beautiful, everything is in bloom and the boys want to be outside a lot. So now I am thinking I will wait until fall:). We can enjoy our summer and the boys can play and play and play. I always seem to come back to the point of, once we start, they will have formal lessons (required sit-down, learning time) for many many years and we might as well enjoy these younger, carefree years while we can:). Now that it is spring, I definitely feel that way.

Today I drove us to swim lessons:). Yay! I put on sandals because my foot is still too sore on top to wear a shoe. When we got there I changed into my boot so I could easily walk around. It worked out very well. My foot does not hurt when I am driving, although it might if I had to slam on the brakes really hard. The dear husband was a bit skeptical of me driving yet so we went for a short test drive to get ice cream yesterday evening. I guess I passed his test because he was OK with me driving today, although we both agreed I need to keep it to a minimum for now.

I do very well with walking in the boot, although it does make my hips and back hurt a bit because my gait is not smooth. The first couple of days in the boot I still used the knee scooter quite a bit because my foot was so sore. Now I am using it less and less. My foot was hurting quite a bit yesterday evening. I think I had over done it a bit and I tend to instinctively want to walk on the inside of my foot a bit, since it is the outside that is injured. When I am in the boot, this actually causes the outside of my foot to hurt more than if I just walk normal so today I have been paying attention and trying hard to walk normal and not try to favor that foot. It seems to be doing a bit better than yesterday, which is promising.

The boys and I are all so happy that spring is here. Today is shorts and bare feet weather, which is awesome. Nick has mastered the scooter pretty well so I took the training wheels off of one of their small bikes. We'll see how long it takes him to master a bike without training wheels. I think if they saw older kids riding their bikes a lot, he would pick it up in no time. I tried to work with him a little this afternoon but I am very limited with the boot. Yesterday I did get out and pitch balls to them. They took turns batting and chasing the balls. Nick kept hitting them over the fence though. He is quite the little sports guy. I need to try to get them into some sort of sports thing for the summer...maybe soccer.

Well, we are having our quiet time now so I am going to do some reading. Hope your weather is as pretty as ours is.

March 24, 2010 Part 2

No surgery needed at this time. I'm in a boot and can start walking on it now. Yay!!

I have to wear the boot for three more weeks so no driving for a while. If the small piece of bone starts to cause pain they will take it out then but, if not, it can stay and they think it will be OK.

So, all good news after all today. This is such an answer to prayer. When we left the doctor's office this morning, we really thought I would be having surgery on Friday and the only question was would they try to screw the bone back in place or remove it. So we were quite surprised, relieved and happy when they said it would OK as is, I could stay in a boot AND I could start walking on it.

Thank you for your prayers! Thank you Lord!

March 24, 2010

I had my doctor appt moved from Monday to today because my cast was too loose. When the PA saw the new XRays, he wanted to show them to the doctor. He thought the small piece of broken-off bone had moved a bit and was now to close to a joint. If it heals that way, it could fuse the joint or cause bad arthritis at some point.

I am scheduled to have a CT scan this afternoon at 3:00 so they can see the best course of action. It sounds like they will either use a small screw to put the small bone back into place or they will remove the small piece of bone completely. The surgery would likely be sometime on Friday, as they need to do it very soon because it has already been 3 weeks since I broke it.

The dear husband says that, if I have to have surgery (and we think I most likely will), it will be out patient surgery and they will likely do it with a local so I won't need to be put under. So it doesn't sound like a very big deal.

Not sure how long it will be before I am walking again. They said they might put me in a walking boot and let me start bearing weight soon after surgery, if they remove the piece of bone. Hopefully it will be a quick recovery and I will still make it to the homeschool conference in Ohio in April.

March 21, 2010

I'm really getting tired of not being able to drive. Hopefully, one week from tomorrow, the cast will come off. I will be counting down the days.

It iced and snowed and was in the 20's yesterday. Snowed more today. Then it stopped. Then it warmed up to 37ish. Lots of it is already melting. Tomorrow is suppose to be in the 50's I think. Hopefully it will soon be gone and all of the day lilies that are already poking through and the other pretties that are already getting ready to bloom will be OK.

Must keep this extra short, as the dear husband is already sleeping, has a bad cold, and I need to clip my finger nails (translation: my typing may wake him as my finger nails are making too much of a clickety click sound).

Goodnight.

March 19, 2010

Ben took this picture. He does pretty well for his age. Aunt Dasha is on the far left, next to her is her granddaughter and son. We had a fun time together at the park.
The boys with their first and second cousins.
Playing at the park with their second cousin. She is a cutie. The last time we saw her was 2.5 years ago. She was just a baby and the boys were 2.
This was at a park. They were fascinated with this cactus.
The boys were tickling each others feet at Aunt Dasha's house.

These pictures were taken at the Hotel in Tucson where we were married, 5 years ago. It was fun to see the boys running around on those beautiful manicured lawns. They had so much fun. It was very surprising to see hardly anyone here. The place seemed empty, which is very unusual for this time of year.
One of the boys took this one...I think it was Ben.
We had one of the staff to take a couple of pics of all of us together.

We went to the desert museum and had a fun time there seeing lots of different desert animals and plants. It was very pretty out there. It was really more like a desert zoo. Not sure why they call it a museum.

Blogger is very slow at uploading pictures today so I will post more later.

March 18, 2010

Today was beautiful, sunny and 70 degrees. Tomorrow will be the same. Saturday, the first day of spring, will be in the mid-thirties and we are expected to get 1 to 2 inches of snow. Monday will be 60 degrees and Tuesday will be back to 70 degrees. (I didn't catch Sunday.) Happy first day of spring and enjoy the snow. Isn't that funny?

My foot is doing fine, although the not driving / staying home thing is a bit monotonous. I go back to the doctor one week from Monday.

The boys were playing outside on the driveway today. There was a bucket of sand in the garage that had been used on the ice/snow on the driveway. They put sand in the gas tank of our van. Not a good thing. We had to have it towed to the dealer ($50). It will cost $600 to $700 to fix it. Needless to say, the dad was not a happy camper about this bit of naughtiness. I was not home so, thankfully, I have no involvement:). They are such quick, busy beavers at 4 years old, aren't they? :).

March 13, 2010 Part 3

Sorry, these are totally out of order:). Oops. I usually do a better job than this but, oh well.


Another birthday picture. Cake at home, after dinner. The dear husband brought the cake home with him. It said "Happy Birthday Sweetie" and it had little hearts on it. Ben said he wanted little hearts on his next cake too. I thought that was pretty funny.
And here are some of our vacation pictures.

The boys loved Aunt Dasha's dog, Buddy. He is the best dog I have ever known. He is so well trained and so sweet that you just can't help but love him. The boys are taking Buddy for a walk...inside the house:). They enjoyed this but we had to set time limits because Buddy is an older dog and the boys could wear anyone out.

Reading bedtime stories.

These pics were from a short hike we took. It was a beautiful day and the area was really pretty. The boys really loved it. We need to do this more often.More vacation pics to come, maybe tomorrow.

March 13, 2010 Part 2

These are some pics we took before our vacation.

A few pics of the boys, the first couple of times they used the computer.


Here is the dear, handy husband, fixing the washing machine.
Ben made a bow and arrow from the straws and connectors. He is still asking for a bow and arrows when he turns 6, although sometimes the age changes.


Here are the boys, playing the horns they got for Christmas from MaMa. They really enjoy these things, although there are times when I ask them to take them upstairs because I get tired of the noise level. They can build all shapes and sizes of horns with them though. Very cute.

Here is a picture of Nick with his first shiner. It is a bit hard to see in this picture but it is his left eye. The dad was giving him a shoulder ride and one or both of them didn't duck far enough when they went through a doorway. Oops.This was when we went out to dinner for my 47th birthday. We went to a really good fish place. Yum!

March 13, 2010

Today will be a long day for the me and the boys. The dear husband is working a 12 hour shift, from 8am to 8pm, which means I will be putting the boys to bed for the first time since I broke my foot. The boys are being very helpful though. They carry my crutches up the stairs for me while I crawl up.

We are showing the house this afternoon so they went upstairs and made their beds and cleaned up and then I crawled up to check everything out and open the blinds. It makes me so thankful for the knee scooter because I can do so much less when I am only on crutches. Upstairs I am only on crutches so it is a good reminder of how good I have it downstairs:). Ben did a very good job of making his bed. Nick had to do his over because it was obvious he had not really tried. He did a pretty good job the second time, with some coaching from me.

Yesterday a good friend came to pick us up and took us to McDonald's. She has two sons so all the boys played in the playland together and we had lunch. It was nice to get out for a while. We all enjoyed it.

The thing I have realized though is that it is so much easier to get around with the knee scooter, I have so much more freedom and speed and I can do so much more, that it I feel very very limited when I am on crutches and I look forward to getting back to my knee scooter again. It can be taken outside also but we didn't take it yesterday because it didn't make much sense. If I was going to go shopping or something like that, then I would take it. My left leg gets so tired so much sooner when on crutches and I don't have any free hands for holding little hands while crossing parking lots or carry anything.

One week down, two to go, before we go back for the next doc appointment. So far, I can't tell any difference at all. Actually, it has been hurting me more yesterday evening and this morning than it had since I had the cast put on. I think it was because the swelling was down and the cast was too loose. Since I was up working all morning, getting the house ready for showing it, it is now feeling a bit better and the cast is a bit more snug. Must have swelled up a bit.

Being called by the boys. Must go for now. Still need to post vacation pics.

March 1, 2010

The boys have been such big helpers. They help me put clothes in the dryer and then get them out of the dryer and put them into a basket. Then they carry the basket and put it near the couch so I can fold the clothes. Then they put their clothes away for me. And they do a very good job.

I am constantly asking them to run little errands for me: Take this to the trash please, please go get ......... for me, please put this over there for me, please pick that up and hand it to me, etc.

They are always helping and they do very little complaining. Sweet boys.

And, of course, the dear husband is doing so much around the house these days. I would be lost without him. He is doing all of the grocery shopping, cleans up the dishes after dinner, loads the dishwasher, runs it and puts the dishes away the next morning. That is a big thing because it would take me forever to put all of the dishes away each day and I am finding the more time I can spend sitting, the better my leg and foot feels.

Today I am feeling a bit better, although my cast is feeling very tight this morning so my foot may be a bit swollen. Pretty normal, I'm sure.

The boys slept in today until almost 7:30!! Yeah! I knew the new curtain liners would do the trick.

Ben came down during the night and had soaked through his pullup. The dear husband got up with him and took care of everything. He went to the health club to swim this morning and then came back and worked here until the boys woke up so he could change Ben's bedding.

The first day when we came back from vacation I went upstairs with my crutches to help put the boys to bed. I have not been back up there since then. It is just too hard to do it on a regular basis. We moved all of our bedtime activities downstairs. So we help the boys get their PJ's on and then brush teeth downstairs and then the dear husband takes them upstairs, reads stories, reads the Bible and tucks them in.

This morning I was reading Charlotte's Web to the boys. They are very into this story right now and they like to pretend parts of the story. It is funny to listen to them say the lines. They have incredible memories.

They are in the library playing right now. I just heard Nick say something about Templeton and Ben is pretending to be Avery, wanting to kill Charlotte the spider. They just threw a play egg on the floor and made it break open and then they both ran away holding their nose. Ben just came through the living room, where I am sitting, and told me to say "be careful with your shoes Fern". They are always telling me what my lines are. They are so funny.

I'm going to read some news now. Hope you have a great day.

March 10, 2010

I hurt all over (whine). Sorry, but this is my pity party post. My poor body has been through so much over the past week. First it was the trauma of falling down the stairs. My lower back has big, ugly bruises all over it and my leg and arm both have big, ugly bruises also, although not as badly as my lower back, which has been very sore.

And then I ended up very sore from the crutches. I am careful not to rest my weight on my arm pits, as they had cautioned me about that. But still, my hands are sore and the sides of my chest, under my arms, where the crutch pushes against me at times, is very sore also.

Then I started using the knee scooter, which really has been so very helpful. But my thigh muscles were so very painful after the first day of use. I felt as if I had gone down hill skiing, after not having been in 20 years. That lasted a couple of days and was just starting to feel better when I went to the doctor yesterday morning....when I had the cast put on.

I already had some red, sore skin on my shin and knee from the scooter. But yesterday the top of the cast was rubbing against my leg when I used the scooter and it was really raw this morning. So today I was careful to only have my knee on the scooter, while holding up my lower leg with the cast on it. By the end of the day, my knee was really sore and the area behind my knee was also really hurting from the weight of my leg and the cast.

Knees were just not meant to bear the body's weight, as if they were feet. And the weight of the cast is the cause of the soreness on the back of my knee and it really hurts.

I think it will take another couple of days for my body to adjust to this new change (the cast). Hopefully after that I will be fine for the remainder of my sentence:).

The cast is not very comfortable, surprise surprise. When they put it on they told me to not put any weight on it for at least 2.5 hours, as it takes that long to completely harden. When I almost fell in the locker room at the swimming place, I put a significant amount of weight on my cast and I think I might have smushed the cast area underneath my foot a bit, as it seems a little too tight.

Between going to the doctor yesterday, going to swimming lessons, almost falling at least 3 times, coming back to the house and helping make lunch for me, the boys and my friend and her sons (my sweet friend helped a lot but I was up on my foot/knee/scooter the whole time), letting the boys play outside on the driveway (which meant I had to back the van out of the garage and put it back in when they were done), go to the door to tell them to quit throwing rocks, quit pulling branches off of the neighbors bushes, etc. too many times while making a casserole for dinner I was up on my foot/knee/scooter/new cast WAY too much. I way over did it and today I paid for it.

I have given myself several pep talks today and, overall, I think I have had pretty good self-talk. I know it could be so much worse and, in the spectrum of problems, this is probably not such a bad one to be dealing with. Even so, my leg was hurting so much by the end of the day that I had my own little pity party and came to my room for a few quiet tears. I felt better afterward so maybe that was all I needed. I also took a pain pill and that helped:).

Fortunately the weather was beautiful today so the boys were able to spend about 1.5 hours outside playing, without coats or jackets. They had so much fun and I enjoyed the peace and quiet.

They were so tired when they went to bed tonight. They went right to sleep and we didn't hear a peep out of them. With the days getting longer and the sun rising earlier, the boys have been waking up way to early (6:30ish). They normally wake up between 7:00 and 7:30. So the dear husband bought some sun blocking curtain liners and hung them tonight. I am hopeful that will help the boys to sleep in a bit tomorrow.

And talking about sleep, it is way past my bed time and I am exhausted. Thanks for listening and I welcome your prayers.

March 9, 2010 Part 2

This morning we had to wake the boys early to make it to my doctor's appointment on time. I was in my bathroom, putting on makeup when Nick and Ben came running in to say good morning, still looking very sleepy. Nick laid down on the warm tile floor and told me "Mommy, daddy broke my good night sleep and now I am grumpy". He was not too happy about being awakened early but I got a laugh out of his choice of words to describe his broken sleep. And he got over his grumpiness very quickly, thankfully.

The funny thing is that, later in the day, I interrupted him and he told me that I accidentally interrupted him while he was talking (and I apologized). But he used the word "interrupted" when he told me. So he knows that word but didn't know it could also be used when talking about sleep.

I love how they come up with words that work to explain what they mean, even though they might not know the traditional word we would normally use.

March 9, 2010

Saw the specialist this morning and he confirmed that my foot is broken. One of the tendons on the right side of the right foot pulled a small piece of bone away from the main piece of bone. The great news is that I do not need to have surgery to fix it. He said that the piece is too small and it would crumble if they tried to screw it back into place.

The bad news is that I have to wear a cast for 4 weeks or so and I can not put any weight on it during that time. He said it will heal itself and it will build fiber (or something like that) back between the bone that broke away and the main bone so the tendon will still be able to do it's job.

Overall, it was good news and we are very thankful that I don't need to have surgery. That is a huge relief.

A good friend of mine came over and drove us to swimming lessons today. I am disappointed though because I thought I would be able to sit down and change the boys and help them but I don't know that I could do that by myself. We are off next week for spring break and I think my sister may take us the week after that, which would be great. I had thought my brother might take us once too but, if he did, I would have to do everything with the boys myself, getting their swim suits off, drying them off and helping them get dressed. I'm not sure I could do it....maybe I could.

The locker room is rather wet and slippery though and I almost fell once when my crutch slipped out from under me so that is a bit scary. I guess we will just take it week by week and see how it goes.

We are doing quiet time right now and I really needed it. I am going to rest now.

March 8, 2010

I have an appointment for tomorrow morning at 8:00am. Hopefully they will say there is no break and I can start using it again:). Wednesday will be one week since I fell. I am ready for an answer. I will update tomorrow, although it will likely be in the afternoon, since the boys have their swimming lessons in the morning after my appointment. A friend is going to drive us over there, thankfully. This no driving thing is for the birds.

March 7, 2010

Vacation pics are coming next!

We received a call from the urgent care in Arizona today. The radiologist looked at the XRays and was not sure there was a break. This is interesting as we stopped by a doc friend's office on our way home from the airport to go over the films with him. It was also the first time the husband had a chance to really look at them carefully also. Our doc friend is in family medicine with a specialty in sports medicine. After looking at the films, he and the husband both thought there were two breaks in the calcaneus bone. The urgent care doc thought there was one break in the talus bone. One of the breaks they all thought they saw seemed to be an avulsion fracture, where a tendon or ligament pulled off a piece of the bone, about as big around as my pinkie finger, and would possibly require surgery.

So now we have anywhere from no break to two breaks, with at least one requiring surgery. That is quite a range. I am so ready to see a specialist and find out what the diagnosis is. We are hoping to get in tomorrow afternoon but we do not currently have an appointment so we'll see. The husband is going to try to call first thing in the morning and see if they can fit us in.

I am so hopeful that there is no break and it will be quick to heal. I really think it is feeling much better. The first few days, if I moved my toes back it was extremely painful. Now it is uncomfortable but not as painful. I have always been able to curl my toes under without pain. My ankle seems to be fine, as far as I can tell. I am so tempted to try a little weight on it just to see if it is painful but the husband says not to until we see the doctor. Probably wise advice, since it could still have a serious break, although I tend to side with the radiologist since he is trained to read the XRays. I have new hope today. Time will tell.

The boys are having fun with the knee scooter. I am sore from using it so much yesterday. I am taking it a bit easier today.


Here is The Foot, all wrapped up.
And here are some pics of The Foot, in all of it's glory. Wednesday will be one week since I fell down the stairs.

You can click on the pics to see them full size.

March 6, 2010

Today, the dear husband and I (and the boys) went to a local pharmacy type place and rented a knee scooter.  It is wonderful! I was in such a great mood after we brought it home because I can do so much more with it and can move around so much easier. There is just no comparison.

We had to get the house ready to show this afternoon so I was really able to put the scooter to the test. It performed wonderfully and I was able to do a lot. However, I have realized that if I over do it, my knee starts getting sore. So, I have to take it a bit easier but I am still very excited to have this new freedom. I was so very limited when using just crutches. This is a huge difference and when one is trying to keep up with two four-year-olds it is the difference between...OK, I can't think of anything to put in here but you know what I mean:).

I am not sure how this broken foot thing is going to impact my trip to Ohio. I hope and pray I will still be able to go. It is all paid for and I was so looking forward to it so hopefully we can figure out a way. Maybe I will be in a walking cast by then.

March 5, 2010

We're back!!

We just returned from a wonderful vacation in Arizona. We flew into Phoenix and drove to Tucson, stayed there from Saturday through Wednesday morning and then spent Wednesday late afternoon/evening, Thursday and Friday morning in Phoenix. We flew home on Friday afternoon.

We had a great time. It was really a wonderful vacation. We stayed with my SIL in Tucson and we stayed with friends in Phoenix. Wonderful, hospitable people all around. Fun people to visit and hang out with. The boys had a ball and loved everyone they met. They were never shy and just fit right in right away everywhere we went. We visited friends and did some sight seeing, had a bit of a hike and lots of other things. I will post pictures and expound more later.

Just wanted to let everyone know we are back and we had a lovely time. The weather was absolutely beautiful.

We had one small hiccup. On Wednesday, about 2 hours or so after we arrived in Phoenix at our friend's house, I slipped and fell down the stairs and broke my foot, it seems, in at least two places. We are not sure exactly what it will entail but are hoping I can get in to see someone on Monday or Tuesday. We went to an urgent care and they XRayed it, immobilized it and gave me crutches. So I am hobbling around and the husband is having to do so much more....and we are all exhausted after our trip home.

But, we are thankful that we had such a nice trip and that we had safe travels. It is always wonderful to go visiting but also always nice to get back home. I will update more later. Very tired. Need rest and food:). Happy day!