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Merry Christmas!Merry Christmas to all of you! We are counting our Christmas blessings here and just loving being together as a family. Noah isn't as stable as we would like and is needing a boatload of extra medical care every day, but he is handling it like a real hero and being a very good sport about it all.We were able to do some Christmas shopping for the children thanks to the generosity of some of you - thank you so very, very much! A precious friend just came by with a lovely hot lunch for us to enjoy, giving me some extra time with my precious family - thank you, Zana! We also just got a call from some dear friends who did something amazing for us. There is a zoo not far from Greenville where they train animals for movies and things. The animals are tamer than most zoo animals, and they have ZEBRAS that will eat out of your hand. We've wanted for a long time to take Noah there, and hoped to do so this fall - but Noah was too sick. Now we can't even think about affording the tickets. Well, as a surprise, our friends called the zoo and told them a bit about Noah. We got a call this morning saying that the zoo wants to wish Noah a merry Christmas and that we can bring our WHOLE family there next week for free - and our friends can come too! I am just blown away by the generosity of people who have never met my son but want to give him the chance to meet a zebra up close and personal. PLEASE pray that he is well enough and stable enough to go. Please pray for our little friend Eithene (link in sidebar) who is HOME for Christmas but is also struggling with multiple issues at home. Little Emerson (link in sidebar) is very gravely ill and in PICU right now. We (actually our company) "adopted" a lonely senior citizen and bought her a few simple Christmas gifts which need to be delivered after lunch. We'll be heading to my parent's in a little while for presents and fun, then we will drive around and look at lights (finally LOL) on our way home. Tomorrow morning will be the best sort of hunkering down together to enjoy being together, opening gifts, and just treasuring each other. Then we'll head to my mom's for a big Christmas dinner - Jeff is smoking some chicken (yum) and I'm sure we'll all eat more than we need to. :-) Doesn't that sound like the most lovely couple of days possible??? Please just continue to pray that Noah will hold his own and start to do better. Also please pray for joy for him today and tomorrow. He is pretty clingy because of not feeling too good. He is also convinced that he is getting "Spike the Ultra Dinosaur" which he saw and played with in the store once - it is a very expensive Fisher Price remote control dinosaur that we just couldn't possibly afford. He is getting some very nice toys and we are praying that he will be happy with them and not upset about Spike. He really truly doesn't need a Spike but we haven't been successful in explaining to him that he isn't getting it. (He is a pretty typical 3 year old with a pretty determined mindset LOL) We are just praying for a spirit of contentment and joy and excitement for him and we know that the Lord can do this for him!! We did find Spike's "little brother" for $15 but haven't decided if we are better off giving it to him and hoping that he will accept it as a smaller, more basic version of Spike - or if it will just upset him because it isn't really want he wanted - we are praying for wisdom there and know we will get it. Timothy had a wonderful, happy 11th birthday yesterday. I have a bunch of photos of our December birthdays, cookie fun, and (will have) pictures of tonight and tomorrow. I hope to get photos and/or a slideshow up this weekend!!! Merry Christmas to all of you dear friends. Blessings, Kate One of my Christmas letters ...I've written 3 Christmas letters, and Steve still hasn't chosen one to mail to our family and friends. But I wanted to share this fun one that I wrote. You'll have to excuse the fact that changing my kids names to their initials throws the rhythm off a bit.“A few of our favorite things”
Gardens and pumpkins and little barn kittens Farm dogs and hay bales and colorful chickens Family gatherings and preschoolers that sing These are a few of our favorite things 4-H and homeschool group, church and good friends Library visits and family movies Toddlers that climb up as if they had wings These are a few of our favorite things Girls on the 4-wheeler, boys on the tractor Parents that love them and hope for more of them Children who giggle with their imaginings These are a few of our favorite things When the storm blows, when the wind howls When we're feeling sad We simply remember our favorite things And then we don't feel so bad Steve loves his garden and family homestead April likes writing and homeschooling children Enjoying time with their family Their kids are a few of their favorite things. A--loves reading, her guitar and art R-- loves being with family and friends They both love computers and music, too These are a few of their favorite things. C-- loves books, paper dolls and barbies J-- loves legos, Star Wars and biking Exploring outdoors every chance that they can These are a few of their favorite things. M-- likes movies and playing with siblings L-- loves puzzles, Dora, Max & Ruby They like to play and pester each other These are a few of their favorite things. G-- loves kittens, cats, dogs, and books He loves his Daddy and his siblings, too He thinks he's big and can do anything These are a few of his favorite things. When the storm blows, when the wind howls When we're feeling sad We simply thank God for each of these blessings And then we don't feel so bad Merry Christmas and Happy New Year !!
Trusting In Him, April Getting betterJulie is on the mend! She has been taking it pretty easy at home - watching movies, doing 'quiet' activities (reading/painting/etc.) and although she is still rather sore, she is gradually getting her strength and spirit back. (You know she's feeling better when she starts teasing her brother again)   Unfortunately she has lost quite a bit of weight ( and if you know Julie - you know she really can't afford that!) so our goal now is to get her eating well again. (Unfortunately, this isn't an easy feat...not only is her tummy still tender - but one of the instruments that they used during surgery cut her mouth inside.) Still - she has managed some scrambled eggs, mashed potatoes, some cheese bread, and even a few "Potato Ole's" from Taco Johns. I think it's time to break out Grandma's Sugar Cookie recipe! If that doesn't encourage her....I don't know what will... MiscellanyI think I dropped off the planet.We have been quite occupied with house-hunting. It is amazing how looking at two houses can take up a whole day, but the driving alone totals out to about 2 hrs time. We've looked at more than 2 houses, but we tend to look at 2 at a time as that is do-able with the children. We are seriously thinking of making an offer on a property with 5 acres and a small house with plans to expand the house or at least enclose the garage. We are making changes in our current house to prep it for sale. We have removed the mantle and tile from the fireplace. We are going to re-paint that wall and put up new tile to bring it up to code. It was surrounded by wood before. I've also been very slowly and painstakingly transferring the contents of this blog into a Blurb book. It takes forever, but I have three years on here. I have to go in and change our names to our real names in the book as I want it to be a keepsake for our family. I have put so much of myself into this blog over the years and want my kids to have a peek into who I am after I am gone. We've been quite occupied with scouts, school, piano and swimming lessons, and Christmas activities. The big boys are doing wonderful with their swimming now. I regret having not given them more opportunity for that in the past. Oh, and we've had four b'days in the past month and have one more to plan for next week. I was able to get out of the princess cake for Joy by convincing her that cupcakes are way better.  Kade had his cowboy birthday, complete with dirt cake, and my husband and mother also had their birthdays here. Joe will be ten next week! We do a real party at ten, so that is in the works. Other than that we've just had a lot of sickies with the various viral bugs that go around this time of year. Poor Faith has already had 3 colds and she is not even four months old yet. Thankfully I am nursing and she handles them like a trooper. Praise the Lord for the blessing of mama milk! Review: The Fallacy Detective by Nathaniel & Hans BluedornTitle: The Fallacy Detective: Thirty-Eight Lessons on How To Recognize Bad Reasoning, 3rd editionAuthors: Nathaniel Bluedorn & Hans Bluedorn Illustrated by: Rob Corley and Tim Hodge Publisher: Christian Logic, 2009 Price: $22.00 http://www.fallacydetective.com/products/item/the-fallacy-detective/ I've heard of The Fallacy Detective for years, and it has been on my wish list for awhile. When the opportunity to review it arose, I quickly volunteered. I haven't seen the earlier versions, so this review will not be a comparison of the 3rd edition with previous editions. It will focus solely on the recently released 3rd edition of the book. The cover does state that the new book contains more fallacies and more cartoons, though. If you're wondering what a fallacy is, the very first sentence of the book defines it as "an error in logic -- a place where someone has made a mistake in his thinking." Sometimes we do this unintentionally, but sometimes these fallacies are used intentionally to mislead consumers and the general public. The ability to recognize fallacies is important. My first reaction to the book when it arrived was that the cover design is very catchy and pleasing, and the softcover book was well-made. The 9" x 6.5" size is a nice one to hold, larger than a standard paperback, but not as bulky as a full-size text book. The book includes Peanuts, Dilbert, Calvin and Hobbes, and other cartoons. Its design, with the cartoons and short lessons, is appealing to myself and my students. The book is divided into 38 logic lessons. It begins with an introduction that explains what a fallacy is, then moves into 3 lessons on thinking and listening skills. After that, the fallacy lessons begin: 9 lessons on methods used to "Avoid the Question", 9 lessons on "Making Assumptions", 7 lessons on "Statistical Fallacies", and 10 lessons on "Propaganda". The book concludes with "The Fallacy Detective Game" and the Answer Key to the lessons. Each lesson begins with a concise and enjoyable description of that fallacy, complete with cartoons to help illustrate the point. Then there are a variety of exercises to help you understand the fallacy and identify it in the world around you. The lessons rely heavily on discussion to help students assimilate the information. My plans were to use this book with my 12 and 14 year old daughters, doing one lesson together at a time. That backfired when my 14 year old (9th grader) ran off with the book and began to devour it. She was fascinated with learning to identify the fallacies, and quickly read through the book. She then started trying to trick us into using a fallacy in our discussions so she could pounce on it. It didn't work, but it was fun to see her looking for fallacies. I still plan to continue to go through the book with the girls, one lesson at a time. Although my daughter has enjoyed reading it quickly, I am sure she'll get more out of it when we take it more slowly and discuss the exercises together. Once we've finished the book, we can enjoy "The Fallacy Detective Game" together ... sounds like a good car game for family trips. It is well worth the $22.00 cost, is completely reusable and non-consumable. It can be used to provide a year long curriculum in logic, covering one fallacy a week and spreading the exercises out over the course of the week. My ideal method would be to read the fallacy lesson together on Monday, discuss a few exercises together, then assign additional exercises to be completed independently. This should also lead to great discussion as we spot fallacies in the world around us. The Fallacy Detective is an excellent logic book for junior and senior high students. It will give students a foundation in logic that will help them think critically about the information surrounding them in life. It will also give them an advantage in school subjects like essay writing, speech, and debate. Its format is easy to use, enjoyable, and most importantly ... effective in teaching the fallacies. This item was provided free by Laurie Bluedorn, in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for the opportunity to review it.
This review is NOT a part of my TOS Homeschool Crew assignment. To read those reviews, click on the TOS Homeschool Crew category in the right column. Trusting In Him, April Candy Foote's "The Word Of God On..." e-books seriesI recently was offered the chance to review some of Candy Foote's e-books. I chose two e-books from her selection of "The Word Of God On ..." e-books. The two that interested me most were "The Word Of God On The Words Of Your Mouth" and "The Word Of God On Being A Woman, A Wife, And A Mother." Each of these e-books is a compilation of Scripture on its chosen topic, sold for $14.99 at CandyFoote.com .There have been times in my life when I have done what Candy Foote has done in these e-books. I have used my concordance to look up all the Scriptures on a topic that was heavy on my heart at the time. I wanted to know what God had to say on the topic, so I searched it out. Some of those times, I underlined a few verses, but failed to make a list of them all. On a few subjects, I recorded the verse addresses on a list in my journal ... but not the entire Scripture segments. Candy has done that work for us and compiled it all into handy e-books that allow you to print them and read them whenever you want to. Not only would these be helpful for your personal Bible study, they can be assigned to older children and teens for Bible Study, copywork, or memorization of passages. The Word of God on Being a Woman, A Wife, and a Mother -- $14.99 This e-book is available in the King James Version, as well as New International Version. I selected the NIV version. This subject is one that is important to me. Candy has included not only instructive verses on being a woman, wife, and mother ... but also Scripture re-telling the stories of other women in the Bible. The e-book is 101 pages long, with 94 pages being the actual Scripture compilations. From Genesis to Revelation, it's God's Word on being a woman, just as the title states. Organized in the order they are taken from the Scripture, it's easy to locate stories of Deborah, or verses from Proverbs. The e-book is neat, easily readable, and includes all of God's Word on being a woman, wife, and mother. It is easily downloaded as a PDF document, which can be read with Adobe Acrobat. The Word of God on The Words Of Your Mouth -- $14.99 Available only in King James Version, this large e-book includes all God has to say on the words we speak. Once again organized from Genesis to Revelation, it also includes narrative Scripture and instructive Scripture. The 133 page e-book includes 128 pages of actual Scripture compilations. This e-book is also well-organized, neat, and easily readable. It is ready for your personal Bible study, or to use in your homeschool. This e-book makes it easy to find Scripture on our words to assign for copywork or memorization by our children. Also downloaded as a PDF document, this can be read in Adobe Acrobat. To purchase these e-books, and more, visit CandyFoote.com. These e-books were provided to me free, in exchange for my honest review. Trusting In Him, April There and back againSoooo . . . Noah was indeed discharged on Friday night. Got home, got him settled, made cookie dough, and then I collapsed gratefully in my own bed. :-) Got up Saturday and baked a bazillion (actually about 250) sugar and gingerbread cookies and made 18 graham cracker gingerbread houses with my children. A little while later our friends arrived and we all had a blast decorating and eating and laughing.As the evening wore on, Noah's output from his g-tube increased a lot and we realized he hadn't really been wetting his diapers as much as he should. A round of phone calls between us and his nurse and some doctors resulted in Noah being admitted to Greenville last night. Yep - home Friday, back Saturday. We had a long and tiring night, but after a lot of fluid his labs looked good this morning and his output was waaaay down - so much so that his g-tube drainage bag was removed to see if he could manage without it. He's had some retching and gagging but hasn't vomited, so we are going home! Yep - home Friday, back Saturday, home Sunday. We don't actually have a plan right now. We just have a boy who is once again stable enough to leave. We don't know what will happen when he is allowed to drink or eat, we don't know if we can restart g-tube feeds or what will happen if we do. Half of his medications are given by g-tube and he hasn't had them in a week and a half, and we still don't know if he will be able to tolerate them, BUT we can try to figure this stuff out at home rather than sitting here for who knows how long trying to figure it out while inpatient. The wonderful Dr. B, (Noah's pediatrician) is going to be in contact with GI tomorrow to start figuring out a plan. We just don't know if we are in the clear here, and it's possible that we will keep yo-yo-ing from home to hospital. We just don't know yet. If he starts to throw up or if he is retching enough to be miserable, Dr. B wants him brought to Abbeville hospital (the one much closer to home). I've got to tell you that it is really and truly exhausting to keep being catapulted from home life to hospital life over and over without warning, but I would still rather go home knowing that we could end up back inpatient as opposed to staying here. Noah looks "OK." His nurse and I noticed that he was, for back of a better word, "wobbly" on his feet yesterday. He slept in until 11:30 this morning which was fair enough considering his rough night - but he's had lots of rough nights without sleeping in that late, AND he is sleeping again now. He played on his bed for a little while then just wanted to lie down and fell asleep. This isn't typical, but it also isn't a big enough deal for us to keep him here. It's just going to be a matter of watching and waiting and seeing how he does. I'll try to post some photos of our cookie and gingerbread house decorating fun. Even Noah got into it and really enjoyed himself. :-) Please pray for crystal clear guidance for and from the doctors and for peace and healing for Noah. He hasn't been able to eat since a week ago Thursday, and he hasn't been able to even sip water since last night - and won't be able to drink anything until we get a plan worked out at some point tomorrow. I'm praying that we don't have some sort of meltdown with him asking for a drink and being denied, and I'm hoping that he will be able to drink tomorrow without vomiting or retching. (His TPN keeps him hydrated if he has no other fluid loss but he still enjoys drinking.) Off to finish getting ready to leave. Blessings, Kate ***Another Update on Julie!***Shortly after I posted the last update, things got really bad for poor Julie.Her pain, fever and vomiting/diarrhea got worse and worse, and so did her coloring.  It was another long, horrible night at home, but we got her in to see our family doctor first thing in the morning. The doctor ordered an abdominal CT scan, which showed that Julie's appendix was very inflamed and that her pelvis was full of fluid - a possible rupture! Julie was sent immediately to the hospital for emergency surgery. I was SO frightened for her, and yet I had peace, as I knew she was in God's hands. (Here she was right before surgery)  Her surgery lasted only about 45 minutes, and the surgeon said that her appendix had not ruptured, but that it was black and gangrenous. Thankfully, she sailed through surgery and recovery, and her first words to us were..."I feel SO much better!" (Praise the LORD!!!) She was kept overnight for observation ( and so that she could continue to receive IV fluids and antibiotics) And although she is sore and very weak from her days-long ordeal.... Here is how she looked this morning before checking out of the hospital - MUCH better!  She is now home and resting comfortable. We'll keep you posted as to her recovery. Thank you EVERYONE for your prayers!!! It's here, it's here!!I am so excited! I have been looking forward to the day when I could order this book. I've heard it is the quintessential book on homeschooling in high school ... especially if you prefer a relaxed method of homeschooling. Every time I've asked about record keeping, planning courses, how much I can personalize a high school education ... someone would say "You need to read this book."What book am I so excited about? Barbara Edtl Shelton's book, Senior High: A Home-Designed Form+U+La. I was able to order it recently, when I ordered some new grammar books and math workbooks for the kids. I'm looking forward to reading it, and learning from it. Trusting In Him, April Heading homeWe are heading home today! Noah's GI issues are not resolved or even really improved, but the doctors agreed to give us a chance to manage them at home. His care will be a lot more complicated, and we'll be in very close (daily) contact with the doctors and almost daily labs with his home health nurse. It makes me a little nervous, but if we don't try this at home, Noah will be in for quite a while longer. I feel like I owe it to him and the rest of the children to try.It's a pretty sure bet that I won't update again for a couple of days unless there is a problem. We had scheduled our annual cookie decorating day with friends for last Saturday, but Noah was in Abbeville so we had rescheduled for tomorrow. Since we are coming home today, I'm going to bite the bullet and proceed with the fun for tomorrow. I just hate to disappoint the children since they put great stock in this tradition. (I can always sleep when my children grow up, right??) Between a pretty complicated new regime for Noah and a bazillion cookies to bake, I'm going to be busy - happily busy AT HOME! Please pray that we will manage Noah's care well and that we can do a good enough job that he can stay home and not have to come back in. If you get this quickly, please also pray for him - we are heading to the treatment room in a few minutes to do a dressing change on the new line and the cauterized old line site - these dressing changes will really hurt and he is already pretty emotionally fragile from yesterday. Thank you all so much! Blessings, Kate { Last Page } { Page 1 of 5 } { Next Page } |
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