Zgarba Zeal

February and March Studies

Although we continue to read in Egermeier's Story Book Bible and have read through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and now are reading about Joseph, we are focusing more on other periods of history.  We have used the Usborne Book of World History along with these readings, but we haven't added any other activities or literature.

Instead we are reading several books from different periods in history.  We are reading the D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths and read several smaller books to supplement this as well as watched a Crayola Kids movie about the Trojan Horse.  Still, the children prefer the D'Aulaire's book, and frequently point out errors in other books and movies.

Several years ago we read a portion of H.E. Marshall's Our Island Story, which I downloaded, chapter by chapter, for free following the links from Ambleside Online.  I recently ordered the book from Amazon for around $10, which was cheaper than continuing to print each chapter.  This time we started at the beginning of the book, which included a myth about the beginning of England.  The boys love the stories of all the Kings and we have just begun the chapters on Edward the Confessor, King Harold his successor, and Duke William of Normandy (1066 A.D.).

We are also reading Howard Pyle's King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, which I read to the children many years ago.  They do not remember it.  Noah was probably no older than 7 years at the time, so it's good to re-read it.  The first time I read it, I initially had trouble with the language, but quickly became use to the flow of words.  This time around, it is much easier to read and does not seem strange at all.  (I guess when you are used to reading children's books, a chapter book like this does seem unusual.  It was not the first chapter book I read to the children.  I read several Little House books first, then this, and then Across Five Aprils, which we will read again.)

Since Grace was not much more than a baby when we read the Little House books, we are re-reading those, with the boys, too.  I expected Noah to object to listening to a "girls'" book, but he finds all the historical facts about daily living fascinating as does Jonah.  And Grace begs to hear it every day. 

In fact, they all beg to be read to every day, so we read our school books Sunday - Saturday, every day of the week, unless Momma is too tired to read.  Grace and Noah, as well as their daddy, have been sick with colds this week.  Jonah is well, but I've been fighting it off, feeling just a little run down.

We have been grieving over this past week for a dear friend, who passed away of sudden heart failure.  He was only 52 years old, with a young wife (young to me), and 5 sweet children between the ages of 7 and 17 years.  Ginger blogs about her life on their farm here.  I know they covet your prayers.

School Plans Spring 2010

II.  Noah

      A.  History

          1.  Adam and His Kin by Ruth Beechick (already own)

          2.  Dinosaurs by Design by Duane Gish (own)

          3.  Egermeier's Story Book Bible (own) and the Bible Genesis 6-9  (I want them to KNOW that the Bible is not a book of stories but a history--a true account--of God's people.)

          4.  The Usborne Book of World History   (pp. 1-7)

    B.  Bible

          1.  Genesis 6-9

          2.  Calvary Chapel printouts  

          3.Memory Verse--Genesis 6:9 & 22  Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.  (and)  Noah did everything just as God commanded him.

   C.  Music  ?

   D.  Nature Study--Floods and weather

   E.  Literature--Many Waters by Madeleine L'Engle.  (I did find that I had to edit for appropriateness for age as I read aloud.)

III.  Nimrod and Sumer

     A.  History

          1.  Usborned Book of World History  (pp. 8-13)

          2.  Genesis 10-11

    B.  Bible

          1.  Egermeier's Story Book Bible and Genesis 10-11

          2.  Calvary Chapel Handouts

    C.  Cuniform writing on homemade clay tablets

We have finished most of this and for some reason have moved on to Greek mythology. although we are continuing in our Bible study and are studying Abram now.

Officially Well

Still Waiting

I just re-read my last entry, including how I hoped to wait until after Thanksgiving to have my kidney stone removed, and here it is nearly January, and I am still waiting.

I have continued to have abnormal EKGs since having the medication reaction, so I have been consulting with a cardiologist.  I passed my nuclear stress test, even though my resting heart rate was 120 and I was only able to spend 7 minutes on the treadmill.  Even so, those 7 minutes were an answered prayer.  If I had not been able to walk on the treadmill, I would have had to have a chemical stress test, and I was concerned about what side effects I might experience with those drugs.

I have also had an echocardiogram and a 24 hour Holter monitor.  The tech. said my echo looked great, but I won't have official feedback on it or the Holter until early January.

I am still not able to exercise.  My heart rate is mostly back to normal with very little tachycardia, but I tire easily and have SERIOUS issues with the stint.  I have very little pain when resting, but I can't walk very far, to the end of the driveway, without having to slow down for the pain it causes.

Imagine--Wishing you could exercise!  In the past I've enjoyed exercising, at times, and been willing to force myself to walk or something active at other times, but this not being able to do is hard.

During this time of waiting, healing, and struggle, my dear, sweet father-in-law passed away a few days after a heart attack, Dec. 10th.  My heart breaks from missing him and watching my husband grieve his father and best friend.  We grieve greatly but with hope.

Homeschool update--Noah finished an abridged version of Pilgrim's Progress and loved it.  Jonah worked on his indoor garden.  Gracie has been sewing, sewing, sewing!! 

We've focused on many Christmas activities:  reading stories, watching videos, baking, and making presents. 

January 4th we will jump back into our history studies (Noah and the flood), pick up where we left off in AVKO Sequential Spelling and Mental Arithmetic, and choose a really good read-aloud for the family.  In February we will break for Black History Month, and in March we will focus on Texas History.  April and May will see us back into our history studies.

Hurry Up and WAIT!!

I don't think waiting is all that hard for me.  I usually find ways to fill my time, even if it is just a good book to read.  But these past two weeks have redefined waiting.  After my last post, I did have to go to the ER, and was diagnosed with a kidney stone which was lodged in the ureter.  I followed up with my urologist, the only one in the area, and scheduled a lithotripsy (sound waves blast the stone into tiny gravel that are easier to pass).  Since I had come down with a bad cold and had lost my voice, he also prescribed an antibiotic to make sure I didn't develop any other nasty bugs before the procedure.  Unfortunately, I had a severe reaction to the medication and ended up hospitalized.  Since then, my heart has been racing.  And racing, and racing.  While I was in the hospital, the doctor placed a stint to make sure my kidney could continue to function.  Lithotripsy was rescheduled, and home I went.  The tachycardia did not go away, though, and a subsequent EKG proved abnormal (inverted T waves), so lithotripsy was cancelled again. 

So here I am.  Two weeks and I still have a stone.  Thankfully, oh so thankfully, I have no pain.  My pulse seems to be returning to normal after 1 1/2 weeks of racing.  Hopefully, I will find out soon what the new plan is.  And hopefully, we can wait until after thanksgiving.

As to our Thanksgiving study--we finished Leif the Lucky and started Columbus today.  We should finish Columbus tomorrow and next week we will read Pocahontus and If You Sailed on the Mayflower.  We are also using a globe to trace the routes that Leif and Columbus took and a dictionary to look up unfamiliar words.  And The Usborne Book of World History has been a great resource with this unit study.

When December comes, we will begin our Christmas study, which always includes reading The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.

Another ER Visit--ALMOST

More drama in our family.  I have a genetic defect called medullary sponge kidney disease.  It's not as ominous as it sounds, although some people do seem to have a terrible time with it.  People with MSK have deformed kidneys.  The drainage tubes in the kidneys have small pockets where urine collects and turns to stones.  I have hundreds of these pockets in both my kidneys and hundreds of stones.  I know; it sounds like I'm exaggerating.  But my doctor said there were too many stones to count.  I used to joke that my x-rays looked like I had been hunting with Dick Cheney.  (An x-ray of my kidneys shows tw oval areas of what looks like buckshot!)  Some people have chronic kidney infections, constant pain, and other problems.  I am truly blessed with sporatic pain, and so far only one kidney infection when I was 11 years old.  (I wasn't diagnosed until I was 38 y.o.  Most people aren't diagnosed until their first kidney stone.  I probably had my first stone when I was 18, but they didn't do any x-rays or extensive testing, just sent me home with an "I don't know what's wrong with her, probably in her head" look.)

Thursday I had another kidney stone, large enough to cause severe pain.  The only reason I even want to write about it, though, is that I have to tell you about my sweet children.  Around 8 p.m. that night after about 3 hours of unrelenting pain, I lay down on our bed.  Before that I had a heating pad and rice sock (tube sock full of dry rice heated in the microwave) and sat in a chair or paced the house.  By this time, I had reached the point of wanting to go to the ER.  I made calls to arrange that, knowing I would probably be there HOURS if not days.  Then I just lay there.  Praying.  Oh, how I prayed. 

Then my sweet children came in to ask if I needed anything.  They re-heated my rice sock, brought me water, and then began to sing the most beautiful songs.  Noah sang "Good night, sweet Mommy, flush that stone right down the drain."  Jonah sat on the bed and held my hand, and Gracie sang "Silent Night".  What an amazing prayer meeting we had.  They got ready for bed, and we had our evening prayers.  Again, they prayed for my healing, and as they prayed the pain subsided GREATLY.  Within an hour, I passed the stone!

I love my children and my dear husband.  You're probably wondering what he was doing?!  He so hates to see me in pain and feels completely helpless.  He's really good, though.  He makes sure I have what I need, reheats the rice sock, brings me water, stays close enough that I can tell him if I need anything, but doesn't hover.  He prays for me, and reaches out to our friends and family to ask for prayer.  I had prayers going up all over this country.  (Just before Mark's heart attack, we joined Facebook at the urging of one of his brothers.  We thought it would be a good way to stay in touch with family and share pictures.  It has turned into a blessed prayer ministry.  When we need prayer, we share our requests--our "friends" are limited to family and friends, no strangers--and friends post their prayer requests.  So many people we have been able to pray with, so many old friends we've found, and so many relationships built with family that we saw only at reunions and so briefly, then.)

So today I am just resting.  We will be celebrating Jonah's 11th birthday with my parents this afternoon.  His birthday isn't until the 16th Nov., but my parents will be out of town.  He's kind of excited.  He gets an early birthday and then we will celebrate his birthday at home on the day.

And I'm counting my blessings!!

Praying for our Soldiers

Thanksgiving Unit Study

CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS

We are taking an extended break from our History of the World unit study.  We have worked our way to Noah and will take up the history of Noah and his sons, the Tower of Babel, and Sumer when we resume our studies in January.  In the meantime, we will NOT be idle.  (Aren't idle hands the devil's workshop?)  This week we have been doing a fun unit study around the book Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.

I found a unit study using this book here.  We will be using some of these ideas as well as our own.  We added a Bible study reading the story of Moses and the children of Israel who were fed manna and quail from the heavens by the Lord.  Egermeier's Story Book Bible is a great resource.  We have two weather books to use:  The Magic School Bus:  Kicks up a Storm and How It Works:  The World's Weather.  We continue to discuss healthy eating.  And, of course, we will be eating spaghetti and meatballs.

HomeMade Laundry Soap

I wanted to post this link again.  We made our second batch of laundry soap.  The first lasted about 6 months.  (We do about 10 loads of laundry each week.)  On my second batch, I was less exact.  I didn't measure the water exactly, just added what I thought was about right.  I really, really like this recipe.  It's easy to make and works well.

Here's the link to my first post:  http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/JoyfulMomma/676876/

And here's the link to the recipe:  http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/laundrysoap.htm