We take my son to the doctors on Thursday so, please pray that the Lord would give them wisdom. I would love to get a quick diagnosis so that we know how to help him. Also, I talked to someone today and they felt pretty sure we could get some financial assistance from the hospital we are taking him to and we could really use that right now!

I have some good news regarding my health issues. Although we are still struggling for an accurate diagnosis, I am on some new medicine that is helping a lot with the pain - Praise the Lord! The downside is that it makes me extremely tired. As in I actually almost fell asleep standing up! I am hoping that will diminish as my body gets used to it. So, I am now on an anti-iflammatory, a pain reliever, and a muscle relaxer. This combination is helping greatly. I'm sorry to keep rambling about this but, it has been so long since I have been almost pain free and I am just so relieved!

School is going slow right now due to all the doctor appointments and testing and a very tired mom! But, they are still learning some this week and enjoying most of it. Next week we will move on to the colonial period and I am looking forward to that since it is a favorite of mine. Thanks for the math advice. I am feeling a little more relaxed about that now.

We have been trying to get our house ready to sell. My husband recently put on a new roof. We just completely remodeled one of our rooms, including paint and curtains. We are going to put up some trim pieces and paint in one bathroom. We have a section of our ceiling in the living room that needs replaced and I bought new curtains. I got both curtain panels, the valence, and tiebacks for $13! Then we will finish the trim and backsplash in out kitchen and it will be ready to go! Still a lot of work ahead but we are getting there slowly but surely. I am very thankful for the progress in several areas of our life. The Lord truly is good all the time!

This week we are working on our All American studies. The kids made pieces of eight and doubloons today. They also made a treasure chest to put them in. We are finishing our exploration theme. They have studied all the great explorers that had anything to do with American history. Now we are finishing up with the pirates. They are having a blast! Tomorrow they will dress a pirate and then Wednesday we will play a game. Then we will finish up the week with an "Exploration Celebration."

Now, if I could just get my older son to pay attention to the rest of our studies, I would have it made. He is so excited about history. But, when it comes to other areas that aren't as "fun", he knows how to do the work but can't seem to focus enough to do it well. He had a math quiz today and only scored a 77% and, yet, I knew he knew the material. When I marked the ones that were wrong and asked him to look over it again, he got them all right. I have considered not doing quizes or tests at all but, I feel like it is important for them to have the feel of doing it later on when they do their SAT and ACT's and such. Also for college. I have also considered testing but just for the experience and not recording grades. But, a part of me thinks that they should be accountable at least to some degree. I'm not sure. Anyone that has opinions on this, feel free to throw them out there.

My little guy is doing great. He has some problems with reading because of his eye problems but, even with that going on, he does well. Today he was all excited as he was doing his math work because he noticed all by himself that there were "twin" math problems on the page.

Since we are using a new curriculum this year, I am still trying to adjust. It seems very hard to fit everything in at this point. We are having fun but, I don't like the fact that it is taking so long to get everything done. Then on the days we add science, I am really drained. I'm hopeful that everything will work itself out soon and we will develop a flow to our days. We are beginning our 6th week so, we have a ways to go.

I hope everyone else is doing well as the school year is starting back up. We are trying schooling year round so, I'm excited to see how that works out.

I'm mostly posting to catch everyone up to date but, I honestly don't even know where to start. I hate that it seems I mostly write about all our troubles. Through everything I know the hand of God is on us and I have much to be thankful for. This may be a little long but, I will try to be as brief and to the point as possible.

I am much better after all of the complications due to surgery. However, I have some other issues going on. To sum it up, I am in a lot of pain and the doc is not sure what's causing it. At this point, he is thinking that I may have polymyositis. This is a disease where the white blood cells attack your muscles causing constant inflammation and pain. I am grateful to have a doctor that seems to be working with me well. I do not want to go on narcotic pain medication if I can help it and he has been very good at trying other options first.

My six year old son, Jadon, has also been having some serious health problems. He has had some problems since he was a baby such as asthma, allergies, and severe acid reflux. We also recently discovered that he needed glasses. And, not only is he farsighted but, his eyes don't work together correctly. So, his Rx has been changed again and is now in the 500s and he also needs vision therapy once a week for at least 9 months. Our problem right now is that our insurance won't pay for this and it is over $6000. So, we are praying in regards to that.

Also, in doing some further testing for his increasing stomach issues, it has been discovered that he has a positive ANA. We are told that this means he almost certainly has some type of autoimmune disease. So, we are scheduled to go to Riley Children's Hospital on September 10th. This is about a 2 hour drive for us but, thankfully, my husband was able to take that day off from work. I'm glad he is going because the doctors there are very good and there will be 2 of them that will give their opinions. I just hope it does not take long to diagnose. I hate the waiting and not knowing.

Other members of the family are doing well. And, even with all this going on, Jadon has been handeling everything remarkably well.

We have also been busy getting our house ready to sell. We have found another home that is in the country where we have wanted to be for a long time. It is an old two story house situated on three acres. It needs some work done to it but, I love it. Our payment will not increase much at all either so, that's a plus. We are going to make an offer on it in a week or two. In the meantime, we had to put a new roof on where we currently are and we are getting ready to do a little painting and just generally trying to spruce things up before we list it.

We have also started our school year. We have now comlpeted our 5th week. We are using a new curriculum called WinterPromise and we are really enjoying it. This is also our first year using Apologia science and that is going well.

So, between doctor's appointments and testing for myself and my son, doing school work, and trying to get things done around here, you can see why it's been so long since I posted. I am trying to catch up with everyone else's blogs as well. I will post here as often as I can. I really enjoy my blog friends. We are giving thanks to the Lord in all things! Blessings!

We went back to the eye doctor today for my youngest son. We had went about a week ago and found out that he was extremely farsighted to the point that he had to have some mega-strength, lasts 24 hours kind of drops in his eyes to relax(dilate) them enough for the doc to be able to accurately diagnose him. So today we discovered that he needs glasses and I don't remember the exact Rx but, it is +400 something in both eyes. The doctor had me look through the lenses and everything just looked like a big blob! I can't believe I didn't notice his problem sooner especially since my other son has this(although not to such an extreme degree). I am relieved to know that this may help greatly with his ADHD. The doc said that there is just no way his eyes can even focus on anything for very long so he just goes from one thing to the next trying to refocus. He picked out his new glasses today and they are blue and bright green! That's what he liked and they are kinda cute.

On the other hand, my oldest picked out new glasses today also. And while I love the selection he made, it makes me a little sad that he is looking so grown-up. He had to pick from the adult section this time. I don't know where the time has gone! Maybe someday I will get a digital camera so I can posts some pics on here.

Yesterday I went through all the old school books and took them out of the kid's totes and put the new books in.  I LOVE new books! Later, the kids came to me and asked if they could have their old workbooks. They still have about 15 lessons worth of work in them and they said they might want to do a little work so they "don't get behind too much". I couldn't believe it - We've only been through with school about 3 weeks and already they are wanting to start again. This really makes me glad I had already decided to change our school year around this time. We will start in early July and pretty much do year-round schooling.

I am so excited about the new curriculum we are using this year! It is from a company I just found called WinterPromise. They have awesome themed programs that are literature based. In case you are interested, our curriculum this year looks like this...

Bible - Make It Stick Devotions(both) and WinterPromise Character Traits for Kids(Rayhan)

Math - A Beka(Jadon) and Christian Light Education(Rayhan)

Reading - WinterPromise “living books” (both - different books at their own levels)

Phonics - A Beka Phonics 1(Jadon)

Language - A Beka God’s Gift of Language(Rayhan) and A Beka Language 1(Jadon)

Writing - A Beka Writing with Phonics(Jadon) and WinterPromise Make Your Own History Book(Jadon) and WinterPromise Timelines in History Notebooking(Rayhan)

Spelling - A Beka Spelling 1(Jadon) and SpellWell D&DD(Rayhan)

History - WinterPromise All American 1(both) and WinterPromise Timelines in History Notebook(Rayhan)

Geography - WinterPromise Make Your Own State Notebook(Rayhan)

Science - Apologia Exploring Creation with Astronomy(both)

Art - WinterPromise Early American Artists(both) and Homeschool in the Woods Time Travelers Activities(both)

Music - Music Made Easy(both) and possibly God Made Music(both)

Wow! - I can't believe it is June already! Where did May go? I think the older I get, the faster time goes. Sometimes we get so busy it is hard to slow down and enjoy every moment. But I sure do NEED to slow down and enjoy them. If I don't, they will be gone. So many times people act like I am absolutely crazy to be homeschooling my children. I frenquently hear phrases like, " I would go crazy!", "I don't have the patience for that.", or "I couldn't stand to be cooped up with my kids 24/7!" I truly do not understand this. I feel like if I am not there every moment with my children I might miss something! Actually my husband and I do try to go out once or twice a month by ourselves if we can arrange it. But, for the most part, our kids are just with us and I don't think they belong anywhere else. I mean, the Lord gave them to us.

Recently my son was invited to a friend's house for an overnight camp-out. As soon as I got off the phone he said," Mom you're gonna have to call them back and tell them I just can't stay the night there. I mean, I don't even really know them." Now, we actually have known these people for about 2&½ years and usually get together with them about once per week. But, I think because of our close family relationship, it means something entirely different to my son to say that he really knows someone. This child sometimes has a hard time staying with his grandparents even though he really wants to. And that is perfectly fine with me. We sure don't have as much money as most people opperate on these days but, God has blessed us abundantly for following His will. I am so thankful for the opportunity to homeschool my children! - Thay are worth it!

It is sure a beautiful day here! I woke up with that song called "Beautiful Day" on my mind this morning and it is turning out to be so lovely here. The funny thing is, my youngest son, who is always singing something, started singing that same song out of the blue today. So I guess the Lord put that song in both of our hearts. I love it when I wake up with a song in my heart. I am just feeling very thankful today.

Oh, my circumstances have not changed, but sometimes it is just us that needs changing. I have a tarp over my roof because it is leaking. My A/C is not working properly. My house is still messy because I can't do too much from having the surgery. But, the Lord is so good! I have a wonderful family that God has blessed me with. We have food on our table and clothes on our backs. I have the opportunity to homeschool my children and be with them every day.

I love the scripture from Phillipians that says, "Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."

I hope everyone had a joyous Mother's Day! Mine was very good overall. My husband started getting sick in the evening was the only downfall. We went to church and then out to lunch. All my men were very curteous and opened doors for me and the such all day long. I got a few things but, best of all I got lots of hugs and kisses:) I am thankful for my own mother and so very thankful that the Lord has blessed me with the opportunity to be a mother.

I woke up sick yesterday and haven't felt like doing too much so, I'm posting this a little late.

Monday - Beef Stroganoff, Corn, Rolls

Tuesday - Pork Chops, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans

Wednesday - Pizza, Salad

Thursday - Baked Chicken, AuGratin Potatoes, Green Beans

Friday - Shepherd's Pie, Rolls

 

I didn't  realize how long it had been since I posted. I will try to do better. I've been through some more infections, etc., etc. but, the doc has finally told me that he thinks everything is settled down now and I can gradually start doing more - Praise the Lord for that!

We are now trying to wrap up loose ends from this school year and eagerly awaiting the next. We have two weeks left and both kids are doing well. Right now they kinda have the attitiude of just getting it done instead of the "awe of learning" thing but, that's OK for now. I am so excited about all our new curriculum that is pouring in from my mailbox! I'll write more about that later.

After school work is done for a while, I have some major house cleaning to accomplish. Everything has gotten behind because of the surgery and I never did the spring cleaning so I have a lot to catch up. I am looking forward to it though. Not the actual work but, the house being really clean again. I have this beautiful picture in my mind of what it is going to look like soon. While my brother is here, I am taking advantage of his carpentry expertise and he is also going to help remodel the kitchen, fix my roof, fix my A/C, and do some painting. I'm excited about getting all this done.

In the meantime, I have had a birthday and it was pretty good. My husband and mother went in together and got me a Wii Fit that I had been wanting for a long time. It is really motivating me to exercise which is a good thing considering that I am overweight and now I'm 30! My husband and I celebrated our 11 year anniversary a little while back and he has really been there for me through a lot of rough medical stuff and I'm so thankful for him! Even though the doc has told me I will still have to take it slow for at least another 6 months, I feel like I can actually start "giving back" some now - and that's a great feeling!

I'm thankful for my friends through this blog and I hope to catch up with everyone soon. For now, there are piles of laundry awaiting me. I'm confident everyone is having a great week. Blessings to you all!

I didn't get a chance to post my What's for Supper Saturdays this week. My brother unexpectedly came to live with us last Friday and it has been a little chaotic around here. Yesterday was my son's sixth birthday. He had a wonderful day! Due to my recent surgery, we are waiting a little on his party but my mom gave him a small gift and he got a movie from us and I still made a cake. We played games and stuff with him all day. I can't believe how fast the time has went! He has lost his two front teeth and has two more coming in and also two molars coming in the back. He said to me today, "Momma, I like the pregnant teeth!" It took me a minute and then I said, "Oh, you mean you like getting in your permanent teeth." I just love my kids - They make me laugh!

My first full week of cooking(hopefully)......

Saturday - Beef Stroganoff with Sour Cream, Peas

Sunday - Thanksgiving in a Pan

Monday - Taco Salad

Tuesday - Salisbury Steak, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans

Wenesday - Grilled Ham & Cheese, Salad

Thursday - Lasagna, Garlic Bread, Salad

Friday - Pizza Night

What a beautiful day it is here! The kids have really enjoyed playing outside today. It's still a bit on the chilly side but, they are loving getting their energy out. On the other hand, school work this week has been challenging. My oldest has been a little distracted but, not too bad. The youngest is another story all together. I'm really not sure what to do with him at this point. He has ADHD but, by my choice, does not take any medication. I'm usually OK with that but, this past week, we are all about to loose it! It's not only in school. He is just acting out like crazy. I know his routine has been changed around due to my surgery. But, the thing is, even though I still can't do a lot of things, I have been able to keep the kids with me all week the last two weeks. He did stay the night at my mom's house two nights but, that is also normal for him. She even made mention of it and she's usually fine with him - He's kinda her buddy. In fact, the second day, she only kept him because she knew I needed a break so bad and my husband is really tired because he is still having to do so many things around here. I even tried telling my son that, if I had to keep getting on to him about school work, he wouldn't be able to go outside that day(which he loves) - Didn't work. I know I am rambling but, I'm so frustrated. If anyone else has any suggestions, especially if you have a child with ADHD, please help!

Other than that, things are better for me. I'm also frustrated about my condition because I'm not healing as fast as the doctor said I should. I realized yesterday that I will not be able to go back to work in two weeks as planned. I only work one day per week but, that really helps out quite a bit. I know God will provide - He has already made a way for my husband to get an extra $300 since I've been off. I guess it was just the realization that it will be even longer than we thought. I have to praise the Lord though because I think the infections(I've had 3) are finally cleared up. I go back to the doc on Tuesday so I'll find out then but, most of my symptoms have subsided. Pray for my husband. I still can't do laundry or even push a shopping cart. But, I did go shopping with him yesterday as I am finally able to cook most of the meals now. Unfortunately, that still leaves clean-up duty mostly for him but at least I feel like I'm contributing something. I'm teaching and cooking - That counts for alot, right?

I'm really looking forward to next school year! I know, get through this one first(smile). We are making two big changes for next year(Not sure if that's wise). First, we are going with a different curriculum that also will be a change in learning style for my kids. It will be a little more along the Charlotte Mason style in that there will be a lot of notebooking, emersion method, and that sort of thing. I am keeping math and language pretty much the same though. Also, we are going to try doing the year-round schooling thing. They will have four week breaks approximately every twelve weeks. This means that they will only have seven weeks for their "summer break" this year but I have talked to them about this and they seem fine with it. I told them we will try it out for a year and see how everyone likes it. I think we are all needing a change and this will allow me to do more learning with them and they will be together more in their studies. I feel like it's a good choice because I will spend more time together with them and less time doing lesson preperation, etc. I hope it lives up to my expectations! Any comments about this style are also appreciated.

Happy Homeschooling this fine Spring week!

I don't have much different news than last week to share. I have had an allergic reaction and two infections all related to my surgery so I've been taking it easy. I'm feeling some better. My main problem is trying to remember to take all of these antibiotics and other medicines.

Between myself, my husband, and my mother the kids are getting all of their school work done. When you are working with them on a daily basis, I think you sometimes don't realize just how much they are learning. I had not been active with them in their school work for about two weeks and then I heard my 5 year old reading the other day. He was already doing well but, it was amazing to me how much difference two weeks can make. There were several words he wasn't having to sound out any more - He just knew them by looking at them. His favorite thing right now is to try to sound the word out silently and then suprise me by saying it correctly without me hearing him sound it out. My older son is doing well also and really loves his new math program. Needless to say, I'm enjoying having some "school" moments back.

I'm not able to cook much at all yet and we are all looking forward to that. Last night my husband tried to make more of a "real" meal. Let me just say that, after him spending about an hour and a half in the kitchen, he gave it up and threw in a frozen pizza. We have had some people bring food in and my mom has cooked for us several times so we are not starving but it has been really interesting. When I start cooking again I'll post more What's for Supper Saturdays. I really enjoy looking at what other people are having in the mean time(although I'm a little jealous). I also got to go to church again last Sunday night and that was wonderful. I'm so thankful for everything the Lord has done for me and the great family He has blessed me with. I hope you all are enjoying your blessings as well:)

It has been a trying couple of weeks but, I am feeling better now. The surgery went well but it took longer than expected because it was worse than the doctor originally thought. The next day I started running a fever and had to stay in the hospital a little longer. I am once again struggling with infection but I am off antibiotics at least until I go to the doctor on Monday. I hope by then I will not need them.

I feel sorry for my poor husband! He is having to do EVERYTHING and is not used to that at all. The first couple days he was off work, he did really good - I almost felt bad because he was running around everywhere making sure the house looked nice and taking care of the kids and me. After about the third day he strarted to loose steam and, now that he is back at work, well, let's just say the house is driving me CRAZY and I can't do a thing about it! I don't think the dishes have been done since Monday. The floor hasn't been swept since Saturday. Every flat surface I look at is covered with papers and "stuff". There are a bunch of plastic bags on the floor of the kids stuff from spending the night places. Don't worry - I am not complaining to him. I am trying my best just to be thankful for what he is doing and not say a word about the house. I just needed to vent a little to you poor people that have to listen to me! I am hoping that, after I go to the doctor on Monday, he will say it is OK for me to do at least some things around here. I feel really useless and bored. I have not left my house now for almost 2 weeks.

The kids are taking everything OK as far as all the shuffling around. They have had to stay at different grandparents houses during my hospital stay and now that my husband is back to work and they aren't used to that. But, I'm happy to say that, as of yesterday, they are back on a full schedule of school work and doing well. My brother came over last Saturday and fixed my computer so that the Math program I bought for my son about a month ago now works. So far he loves it so, therefore, I love it:) He was beginning to hate Math even though he is good at it - He just hates all those worksheets. So, I'm hoping that this goes well and we can continue using it next year.

Well, I imagine I will be writing more now that I can sit here without pain and can't do much of anything else. Hopefully, I will get caught up on all my friends blogs and start posting my What's for Supper Saturdays again. Right now food is limited to what my husband pulls out of the freezer -lol. I hope you all are having a happy week!

Blessings,

Andrea

I am really sorry it has taken me so long to write a new post. We all were very sick(even us adults). About the time we were getting over that, my youngest got sick again and he just kept vomitting and we couldn't get him to stop so I had virtually no sleep. Then I went to the doctor and I am scheduled to have a hysterectomy on Friday(2/20). Because of the surgery, I can't take my normal pain medication, which I take twice per day ,so I'm not having a very pleasant week. Now, I fear I am starting to get sick again as well so I'm a little worried about infection and that sort of thing. I tend to have problems with that anyway. The last time I had surgery it took about 6 months to finally clear up all the infection. It is just so crazy right now and I'm not sure how long it will be before I'm feeling like blogging again. In the meantime, I would really appreciate all your support and prayers. I'm very thankful to those of you who have been a friend to me through this blog.

May the Lord richly bless you all,

Andrea

I'm posting on Sunday this week....I'm getting better:)

Sunday: Pizza

Monday: Beef Stroganoff, Peas

Tuesday: Thanksgiving in a Pan(mashed potatoes on bottom, turkey and veggies in middle, topped with stuffing)

Wednesday: Lasagna, Garlic Bread, Salad

Thursday: Roasted Chicken and Veggies, Rolls

Friday: Pork Chops, AuGratin Potatoes, Corn, Salad

 

I am feeling better today. Oh, things are just as hard but I am really encouraged in the Lord. Isn't it wonderful how He will just lift us up when we need it most! As I was praying last night, I was saying something to the Lord about how He knew all about all of these situations and just the right thing to do, etc. When I said that word, "situation" , a scripture came to me. It is Psalms 48(I love the Psalms). Verse one basically says that the Lord is great and greatly to be praised and that we will praise Him in the New Jerusalem. Verse two starts this way, "Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth" Now I know this can be taken in the regard that our situations here will be worth it all when we see that Great City. But, it seemed to speak to me at this point that God Himself IS beautiful for situations. If we can see God IN our situations, and look at them through His eyes, then they can be beautiful. This can be a beautiful time in our lives if we just keep our focus on Him. I feel like I can't really express it here the way God spoke it to me - I wish I could. I just know that God is goos ALL THE TIME!

Starting Wednesday this week:

Wednesday: Baked Italian Chicken, Roasted Cauliflower, Garlic Red Potatoes, Green Beans

Thursday: Salsibury Steak, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans, Rolls

Friday: Tuna Noodle Cups, Peas & Carrots, Salad

 

The last couple weeks have been a little hard as we have had an unexpected death that was not family but just as close, and also some medical issues with all of us except one. It seems like the past few days have been a few weeks. Needless to say, I'm exhausted. We have been home a little while from yet another test at the hospital regarding my youngest son, Jadon, who is 5 years old. The staff there love him and he has been a real trooper - They say he's the best patient. The next appointment is not for about 10 days so we will have a little break. But, they have already prepared us that, at that time, they will probably be referring him to another specialist that is 2 hours away. Meanwhile, my husband has suffered an injury and is going to the doctor later this week. I also have been having medical problems and have been scheduled for major surgery on Feb.20. Please just pray for us. I know that all things work together for the good to him that loves the Lord and all.......It's just really hard with so much going on all at one time. I will hopefully have better news next time I write:)