May. 11, 2008 Currclick are doing it again!!!
Wouldn’t it be nice if every day was Mother’s Day? We can’t make every day Mother’s Day, but we can offer savings you can enjoy the whole year through!
In appreciation for all you do CurrClick.com is pleased to announce our
3rd Annual Mother’s Day Freebie Event!
Spend Sunday with your wonderful family and then visit us on Monday, May 12th for an event that will give you a reason to keep celebrating Mother’s Day for the rest of the year:
From May 12th through May 14th, download up to 20 FREE Homeschool titles from our generous publishers, worth over $100.00 in value!
http://www.currclick.com/cclick_mothersday.php
Happy Extra-Long Mother’s Day to you, from CurrClick and it’s publishers: The CurrClick Mother’s Day giveaway event is our way of honoring the tremendous love, creativity and hard work you have dedicated to your children in their homeschools and in their lives.
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May. 11, 2008 Mother's Day!
It's kind of fun to have Mother's day in a country that isn't celebrating that day. I mean, there are no crowds in the restuarants, no tacky presents around, your kids have to make you homemade cards because there aren't any generic ones in the shops, and you get to walk around all day feeling like a queen - and you are the only one who does!! 
I knew something was up when they all started whispering just before teatime last night. Then I decided to help Dh out by hunting our some card making supplies and leaving them out in the school room.  The boys went in and when they saw them they said 'How did you know we were going to make you are card?'  Chalk one more up for 'Mommy's know everything!' LOL!
There was a lot of tooing and frowing and asking Dad how to spell this and that before bedtime - and I remained blissfully engrossed in my TV show, pretending not to notice a thing!
Then I was woken this morning to breakfast in bed! And such a breakfast it was too! Have you ever been given three petit fours for your breakfast? No? Well, I have! Now dont' get me wrong - I LOVE PETIT FOURS!!!! And have since I was a tiny girl. Something about those tiny sweet cakes just does it for me, you know? But not even I could face that much straight sugar first thing in the morning! LOL! I did eat 1 1/2 before giving up and finding something more nutritous for breakfast!
I also had a cup of my favourite tea, a flower off my violet plant, and the two beautiful homemade cards! They were so creative and so individual! They both copped out and wrote 'Happy Mom's Day' because 'Happy Mother's Day' Was just too much writing! Boys!! 
There is one other American lady at our church and I made a bee line to with her Happy Mother's day since I figured no one else would. She said that her Dh hadn't even mentioned it yet! Yikes! She was missing her kids in the states and her grandbaby too! They are missionaries here and miss their family at times alot.
Then her husband got up the front and wished us both Happy Mother's Day! So I think he got himself out of the doghouse! LOL! And we both got a few friends giving us wishes after the meeting.
After church we drove to one of my favourite restuarants called 'Big Wok'. Is is an all you can eat chinese buffet with the yummiest chinese food you have ever had. And it is one of those places where almost everyone who works there is actually chinese! They love kids in this restaurant and never complain about the babies making noise.
We like going for a big lunch as it is almost half the price at lunch time! The only things you dont' get for lunch are one of the counters where they make things to order and the sushi bar. Monkey was dissapointed because he loves sushi! But since everything else was included he found plenty of things he liked!
The restaurant was surprisingly quiet for a weekend, which was nice. And we got to sit in the one small section that was air conditioned - it is quite warm today so that was really appriciated! They have fresh fruit, cakes, an ice cream machine and a chocolate fountain with marshmellows to dip in it for dessert. Of course there is always the more traditional banana fritters and syrup too! That was my choice - yummy!
The boys had a quiet time this afternoon and then went out to the evening meeting with Dh since there was a missionary speaking tonight. So it was just me and Pumpkin left here.
So what do I do with a quiet house on Mother's Day evening? Watch a nice movie? Do some handcrafts? Read a good book? Catch up my knitting? No! I go out and build a shelf unit in the shed/office in the garden for storing the MUS stock on!! LOL!
Seriously! We bought in on Friday night, and I thought I'd let Pumpkin play in the garden with some balls and the slide and empty boxes while I assembled it and unpacked all the boxes of stock onto it! It went together fairly easily and most of the stock is now organized!! Hooray!! No more climbing up into a wall closet in the boys bedroom to fill orders!
I still have to move down the stock that is in the cupboard upstairs, but we should be able to finish that tomorrow. It will just be so nice to be able to get to things more easily!
Would you believe though that Pumpkin doesn't like grass? I mean you put him down on it and he screams!! He doesn't like playing outside at all! We are going to have to work on that one. This baby cried to be picked up and screamed most of the time. I have never met a baby (especially a boy one) who wouldn't have had the time of his life with 9 huge boxes big enough to climb into! I put him in one to show him what to do and he tipped it over to get out and simply screamed because it tipped over!  LOL! Silly sausage. He'll learn. The outside to for having fun in.
So that's my Mother's day. A very nice one too. What did you do with yours?? |
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May. 10, 2008 Sunday Sing along!
Here is a sing along especially for Mother's day! This is a song that sums up motherhood and the craziness and wonderfulness of it altogether! Sometimes it is hard to 'find time' to worship, but God knows we are worshipping in our hearts throughout all we do!
Happy Mother's Day!!
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May. 9, 2008 Catch up blogging!
I guess I'm catching up on blogging now! LOL! Just because I only blogged about fostering didn't mean that no school and learning was taking place! So in case you are interested here is some photographic proof that other things have been accomplished!
We had a schools session at Nottingham Castle about Archeology which the boys loved!!
They got to handle real and replica items that were dug up on the site.
They also got to handle real bones and try and figure out what creatures they came from. Eeww!
Then they got to dress up in armour! They were ecstatic!!!
In the afternoon we looked around the museum and found this mummified cat! How cool is that? We were very excited since we are currently studying Egypt and mummies in school. How neat of God to arrange things like that huh?
McGee especially asked if we could celebrat the Passover Seder this year so we did! We found a great Messianic seder which Dh read and we all enjoyed the evening. We decided that we will do this every year and look into the other Jewish festivals as well. I hope to find a Seder plate by next year and also some real Matzos. Our grocery store has sold them in the past so I just assumed I'd be able to get them there. Wrong! And by then it was too late to run around looking other places. I'll know better for next time.
 The local Salvation Army was open for visitors this past Monday on Bank Holiday. We went in for a while and boys got to try to blow the horn and the trombone! They did it too!
We had another day at the local power station discovery center too. This is Monkey's nature model made out of all things collected on the nature walk. Can you see the bark making a cave? And that prickley reed is standing up like a tree. At the back is a stick stuck upright and moss hanging off as the branches of a tree! Clever Monkey.
McGee's nature model was of an ancient log cabin that had collapsed. When we got home he added plastic dinosaurs to the model!
These were clay models that were called 'Bogits'. This is Monkey's which they had to do with pieces they had collected on the nature walk along with other odds and ends. Isn't his cute?
This is McGee's really cleverly crafted Bogit! He actually made the nose first and then crafted the Bogit around it! Is that not the most amazing and realistic nose ever?
Unfortunately the nature projects and the Bogits have started to disintegrate and will be being disposed of this weekend but at least we have lots of pictures to keep!
So there you have it! Proof that learning takes place even in the midst of the chaos around here! |
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May. 9, 2008 My wonderful Beaver!
McGee is in the process of crossing over from Beavers to Cubs in the Scout program at the moment!
He is currently attending both for a few weeks as a transition, and enjoying both clubs immensly! He was recently chosen to be the flag bearer for his Beaver troupe in the St. George's Day parade through our town. We were so proud of him! I took loads of photos but since they all show his face, I only have one I can post. It is rather blurry since I was a million miles up in the balconey when I took it.
He is kneeling down at the front of the church to have the flag lifted off the harness and put on the stand till the service was over. Then he knelt down again to have it put back in his harness to walk back out through town again.
He carried it perfectly and looked so grown up doing it! He has also gotten almost every badge possible for Beavers to earn, including the Chief Scouts Bronze award!!! He did his personal challenge last night which was the last thing he needed to get it!! He had to learn how to play chess as his personal challenge.
He has worked really hard in Beavers and we're excited for him to get this great honor in the troupe. He is already planning on getting the Silver award before finishing Cubs! LOL!
We do lots of extra badge work as part of his schooling. For instance he grew a bulb as part of our nature study this winter and that doubled as his science experiment badge!
Well done McGee for all the hard work! |
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May. 9, 2008 Amazingly wonderful hubby!!!
Let me just set the stage here. I live in a county that has no Dunkin Donuts, only a handful of Krispy Kreme stores the nearest of which is over two hours away and all other donuts are the squishy yeasty kind and I love cake donuts!
Add to that the fact that the past two weeks have been really hard and it makes this wonderful treat all the more amazing!!
Dh had to be away on business all day Wednesday, leaving before we got up and back very late at night. He had wanted to stay over the night before this big meeting but had chosen to stay home because it was the night we took Sportacus to his new home and I needed him here with the other kids!
So he gets home on Wednesday night and rings the bell???? I think he forgot his key or something, so I go answer it. He tells me to close my eyes and hold out both arms. Oooooo! This is getting exciting now!
When I open my eyes this is what I see!
And inside the box was a dozen eleven wonderful donuts!
(So he had one on the way home! We can forgive him for that! After all the Krispy Kreme shop was an hour away in the opposite direction of home from where he was!)
So he drove an hour further away, and then 2 1/2 hours home again just to get me these donuts! Is that not the sweetest (literally!) thing ever??? I have the most amazingly thoughtfull hubby ever! Aren't you jealous? So you should be!! LOL! Just kidding, I'm sure your hubbies are just as wonderful to you, I just wanted to brag on mine a bit!
And just in case you are wondering they were all gone within 24 hours! Dh had two the boys had 5 between them, so I had - well you do the maths! Let's just say it is a good thing I'll be at Pilates on Monday night! LOL! But oh! It was soooo worth it! He knew just what I needed to brighten up my week! |
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May. 8, 2008 Overdue update!
First of all I want to say thank you to everyone for the encouraging and uplifting comments, emails and private messages you have all sent in the past two weeks! They have been a source of support as have the many prayers that we know were going up on our behalf! So I wanted to start by saying a huge THANK YOU!!!
I'm sorry for the silence, but I made the decision to wait till things were finally sorted out to update as it has been too much of an emotional rollercoaster, changing several times a day sometimes, to keep you all updated. I knew people were praying and that was the thing we needed most!
Sportacus left on Tuesday evening. We had a terrible, horrendous night last Thursday. Dh and I were both at our wits end as to what to do with him!! So on Friday when one of the team that looks after us as foster carers came around to see how things were going we told her that he had to leave ASAP.
She was here for less than an hour, but she decided that she was going to try and move him that very evening. She wittnessed my boys being exhausted, stressed out, and just completely out of sorts! She actually said that she was more worried about out my boys than about Sportacus at that point! And the negative effect that his behaviour was having on our family.
I truely am blessed to have a social work team who really care about their foster parents and our families! She was really fighting our corner this past couple of days, and we appreciate the support they have given us immensly (sp?).
Due to difficulties with the boys' social worker and the fact that it was a holiday on Monday so a long weekend off, she was unable to move him Friday evening. But she did arrange an emergency respite carer who was on standby all weekend in case things escalated further. We could simply ring them up and drop him off. It was nice to know we had some back up over the long weekend.
On Friday evening we went out for awhile and Dh decided to tell Sportacus that he had to leave soon and live with a new family. His reaction? 'Oh. OK.' That was it!! After about half an hour he finally asked what about Pumpkin. Dh told him that he might stay with us. He was a bit upset when he thought he wouldnt' see him again, but when told he would see him at contact with Mummy, he was fine to leave him behind!
Our boys also were totally relieved when we said he was going. And we ended up having a good weekend together! I think that knowing the end was in sight helped us all to get on for a couple last days.
On Tuesday, we did say to the social team though that we really wanted him out that evening because we had Jack and Jill coming that night. He loved it when they came but the change of schedule and sleeping arrangements always sent him nuts and those were the worst nights we had with him. I wanted things to end on the good note of the nice, pleasant weekend we had had, rather than have one last horrific night and then him go.
This is where things went downhill rapidly! To sum up his case worker dodged all phone calls from me and my social worker and all emails from the team both on Friday and on Tuesday! She was trying to avoid us because without her sayso we couldn't do anything permenant. My social worker told her that we were going to put him into the emergency respite that night and she went nuts!! She even had her senior manager ring my social workers senior manager to have a go about us and the situation!
To give them their due - our team had our backs and defended out right to say enough was enough! However the case worker refused to transport Sportacus to the new home, or to do any paperwork that night! So I had to transport him into the city to the new home and give them a copy of our paperwork.
All weekend long Sportacus kept asking if he could pack his suitcase yet! He couldnt' wait to go. We bought him a nice old suitcase and a new plastic bin for his toys and things. He had come to us with a bunch of big black binliners filled with his stuff. I refuse to send children out of my home with their belonging in garbage bags. So he left with suitcases and nice boxes and felt special having all these nice things to store his stuff in!
When it was finally time to go he looked at each person in the house in turn and said 'Bye *****. I will never see you again - ever.' with a flat monotone and no facial expression. He gave no one hugs - not even his brother! Dh lifted him for a hug and we both prayed together over him. We also gave him a small Bible. We had read the 'God loves me Bible' with him at bedtimes and he loved that little book. So we had bought him his own copy which has space at the back for you to stick the childs picture in the frame and write their name in so that the last line reads 'Yes! God loves Sportacus' He was sooo excited! He 'read' it the whole drive to their house and ran in showing it to the new family when we arrived.
I almost had to beg for a hug goodbye when I left. He was not the least bothered about going! Not sure if that is a good thing - because we were worried he would be upset. Or a bad thing -that he hated our home so much he couldn't wait to get out! In reality I think he is simply so out of touch with reality that he simply doesn't care where he is - or most of the time even know where he is!
We had typed a 5 page letter to the new carers explaining what they were up against as we felt that forwarned is forarmed. Some of his behaviour has been quite dangerous to himself and to others and we felt they needed to know what to keep him away from and what to watch out for. They asked as soon as I got there what the story was and were happy to have the information. They were also very kind and understanding that not every child is a fit for every home. They too had had a similar child and only stuck it out because she was being adopted in a matter of weeks so they knew the end was in sight!
We had a more relaxed day yesterday without having to run back for Sportacus to be dropped of by the taxi, which was nice to take my time with the boys in town. And this morning - we all slept till 8am!!!!!! Even the baby (who is now back out of our room in the extra bedroom. He couldn't share with Sportacus) didn't wake till 8:15!! Sportacus was always up around 6am! So it was nice to actually get a full nights sleep and start the day peacefully!
I hated to ask any child to leave, but this has definitely been the right decision for all of us. My head knows that this was right for him and for the family. My head knows that I had to think of my boys first! My head knows that I have nothing to feel bad or guilty about. But I would appriciate prayers at this time because although I know it all in my head - my heart is breaking!! I love this little boys even though he drove me to distration!! I know my heart will come to understand as well in time, but I FEEL bad, guilty, a failure, and like I let him down. I KNOW that I'm not and that I didn't - I just FEEL this way right now and could use prayer that my heart would catch up with my head soon!
Please pray as well because we have to get ready for Pumpkin to leave in just over a week. The boys case worker is insisting on reuniting the boys as soon as she can. She is angry at us and her way of 'punishing' us is to take Pumpkin out of the home where he is thriving and bonded and put him back with his brother who has been endagering him! But Dh has said that we won't fight this since we can't have a working relationship with this case worker after the way she has behaved! So Pumpkin has to go soon too! The boys are quite upset about him going - as are we! We are simply praying God's hedge of protection around this little one.
So I think that brings the fostering situation up to date! I have a few other thing that have happened to blog about but thought I'd do that in a seperate post. I'll try and post more homeschool stuff than fostering stuff in future! LOL! After all I think this was supposed to be a homeschool blog??
Thanks again for the prayers and the support! We really felt the prayers this past week. And I appriciate my bloggy friends! |
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May. 6, 2008 Too cool science!!!!
So here I am at my computer this morning and I open an email from my brother, Jewelryguy. He sends me some really good forwards now and then, not the rubbish ones, but really good ones, so I always look forward to them. But this one really blew me away!! God's design of us is just too cool!!!! Watch this one, and I'm sorry if you have already seen this, but it is just too cool not to share!!
Laminin! Isn't God's design just the neatest thing? |
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Apr. 28, 2008 Tough decisions!
I know I've been quiet this past week or so, but things have been escalating here at home and we have had to make some hard decisions this past week. I've sat down to blog it several times, but sat looking at a blank screen unable to figure out where to start! So many times I have just felt like such a failure that I didnt' know how to say what we are feeling right now!
In a nutshell, we have had to ask Social Services to find Sportacus a new home.  We simply can't handle this one any longer. He is still with us while they get some assessments done to determine what exactly he needs before moving him. We simply feel that we dont' have what he needs and they need to find him a carer that does!
His behaviour is deteriorating swiftly both here and at school. He is biting on everything from putting holes in his clothes to biting chunks out of his bed, to biting holes in his toys and pulling all the stuffing out of them. Last week he tied himself up in his bedding and scared us! If we hadn't checked on him one more time before we went to bed ourselves what could have happened????
He is ignoring his brother and actually screaming if Pumpkin comes near to him. He is also doing things that could put Pumkin in danger, so it is also being assessed whether it is best for them to remain together or be seperated now! We feel that Sportacus needs to be in a place where he is the only child due to his severe needs.
We have had meetings this week with social workers and the family which were very difficult. As you can imagine, the family didn't take kindly to being told there is something seriously wrong with their child!! (that's an understatement!)
There is no logic whatsoever in that little child's head. It is impossible to reason with him, and it is like he isn't even 'home' most of the time. You ask him why he did something and he doesnt' even know what you are talking about, or else he starts talking about some fantasy story in his head! He has NO line between reality and fiction - none whatsoever!!
He needs extremely strict structure which is simply not possible in a home where this much is going on, and where this many people are living! Social Services mixed up staffing on Thursday so he couldnt' have his visit with Mummy that evening. So he has been upset ever since wanting to know if it is time to go see her yet and what he has done wrong to be 'punished' by missing out on it! We have tried to explain for four days, but he understands no better than on Thursday evening!! It is sooo frustrating!
He has wanted to go to school the past two days on the weekend to the point of crying when told it wasn't a school day! He convinced himself that we were preventing him from going for some reason. He left this morning and turned back to me in the front garden and said 'I got out! Now I can go to school and you can't stop me!' He honestly didnt' realise it was the weekend and there was no school!!!! It didnt' matter that the same thing happens every weekend, or how many different ways we explained it.
I HATE to ask for a child to be removed from our home, but this is simply going to tear our family apart! We usually try to include these children in everything we do, but this one simply won't be included - he is too disruptive to normal life!
Pumpkin on the other hand is thriving! He is growing big and chubby. Nearly walking, starting to wave and clap, starting to talk and feed himself some foods, and sleeping through the night! He gets into normal baby mischeif, but has learned more bounderies than his brother already! At least he knows to stop what he is doing if we say 'NO'!
He is also forming attachments to us, finally, which he was unable to do before. And he has learned to laugh! I know that seems like a little thing, but this child simply didnt' know how to enjoy anything and has had to be taught to have fun!
If you feel led to pray for these children and our family that would be wonderful. Please pray especially for us during this 'notice period' and that the neccesary assesments will take place quickly! We need to get off this roller coaster, but we do want Sportacus to be moved to the right placement for his needs. We are willing to hang in there for the assessment providing that it happens soon!
Our own boys are struggling with this placement big time and we can't sit by and let things continue when they are affecting our boys so adversely! They have to be our first priority, after all God has entrusted us with them. So for their sakes and for his we have to see Sportacus leave us shortly. None of them have been told yet, and wont' be untill we have a time for when he will leave.
I have some other burning things I want to post about that are on my heart, but all this upheaval this past week has put all of that on hold for a few days. I hope to be posting more school stuff soon! |
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Apr. 20, 2008 Marshie's Birthday Bash!!!
My cool, fun, wacky, georgous, crazy, clever, wonderful bloggy friend Masha is having her birthday this week and WE get the pressies!!!! How cool is that? At least some of us will get the pressies, it is a contest. And this one is open to International bloggers too! So run on over and say hi to her each day this week for a chance to win her prizes, which I'm sure will be stupendous ones!!
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Apr. 20, 2008 Sunday Sing-along! (actually on Sunday for once!)
I'm on something of a Steve Green kick this week! I have several of his songs running through my head after my Google search earlier this week.
This one is called 'Find us Faithfull' and I simply can't shake it right now. Between the tears and sweet memories of so many faithful souls who I know that have gone before and left Godly examples to me, and the overwhelming desire to leave footprints behind me that will guide others to the Savior this song has been speaking to me for days now!
It is so encouraging to remember that others are cheering us on to the finish line!!  I'm no good at physical races (asthma makes running a 'challenge' to say the least!) but two of my brothers are very good athletes and it is such fun to stand near the finish and cheer them over the line. Now to imagine that my Grandparents and other dear older friends are all there cheering me on the same way is such an encouraging thought!
But I also want to leave behind me memories that leave no doubt as to what I believed! I want to leave my children and others with a clear understanding of where I've gone to and how they can get there too! May I not just lead a mediocre Christian life, just doing 'enough' to get to Heaven, just coasting along to the end. I want others to find me faithful, see 'the fire of my devotion lighting the way', may I leave footprints that lead them to the Lord!
My life's passage is Titus 2. This songs goes along those lines I think. Learning from those ahead of us on the journey, but at the same time leaving lessons to be learned by those coming up behind us too! How exciting to realise that we are right in the middle of this 'baton relay' of a race! Other's have passed the baton to us and now it is our turn to run our lap to the best of our abilities and prepare one day to hand the baton on to those who come next!
Be encouraged today! And enjoy the song!
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Apr. 18, 2008 Sunday Sing-along! (on Friday)
I'm joining in the Sunday singalong for this week, even though it is almost time for the next one!
I was looking on the internet for another Steve Green song when I came across this one - 'Children are a Treasure from the Lord'. This song is one that my Dad sang to us when I was younger. I was the one starting to 'drive the car', and my youngest brother was 'just starting his school days'! So this one really spoke of my whole family at that time!
We also got the biggest kick out of this since I was 18 when I met Dh and my Dad used to remind me that I wasn't allowed to go on a date for another 3 years - when I was 21!!! LOL!
This morning the song has had me sitting here crying my eyes out!! First of all my children really are a treasure since we now know that having any full term pregnancies was a miracle with my conditions!! Secondly, I'm missing my other five babies at the moment. Not sure why, I just am.
But most of all this just convicted me. Yesterday I was loosing it with them all, upset by their naughtiness, disobedience and defiance!!  All of which is worthy of being disciplined but not of my total frustration and my short fuse. I had just had enough of them all last night. Now I realise that I simply forgot that they are 'treasures from the Lord' for me to care for and protect and love for the time I have them (even the foster children are treasures from the Lord for a time).
Hold them closer today, tell them you love them one more time, read another chapter (the dishes will wait another half hour!), give three extra hugs to each, and most of all remember to thank God for the gift of them!! Remember that treasure is a precious thing that should be looked after with extra special care! This is a reminder I needed this week, and I hope it encourages you too! Enjoy the song and reach for the tissues first!
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Apr. 14, 2008 Monkey made me smile!
Monkey is definitely our family comedian. He has such a sense of comic timing and a wicked sense of humor!! He often has us in stitches.
It can often be difficult though to teach him the appropriate time to be funny and when it will simply get you deeper into trouble! Like, not cracking a joke when you are being disciplined for instance!
Tonight though, he dropped a corker!! I had to go out tonight. After a year of making excuses, I finally got back to going to the Pilates class that I used to attend. I was picking up a friend on the way who was also wanting to go so we would both have the encourgement of going with a friend.
So at dinner I told the kids that I was going out in a few minutes and that Dh was going to put them all to bed. McGee askes where I'm going? I answered that I was going to an excersise class with Auntie L****.
Monkey pipes up and says 'Oh you mean your yogurt class?' I just laughed and laughed!! Then I told him that the word he was looking for was 'yoga' not 'yogurt' and that it was actually Pilates anyway!! Of course Dh looked at me when he stopped laughing and said 'Well, there's one for the blog!' So I thought I'd post it tonight so as not to dissapoint him! LOL! |
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Apr. 12, 2008 The end! - Finally!!!!!
Now don't panic! I'm not shutting down my blog or anything drastic. We have finally just finished a year long read aloud!
And no, I don't read that slowly! LOL! We started just over a year ago to read the full 7 books of the Chonicles of Narnia aloud together. This has been our 'Mommy's handbag' read aloud though. And I'm sure I lost you all there, so I will explain!
We read other books aloud together at home, but I always carry a chapter book (a small size paperback one) in my handbag to read aloud when we have to wait somewhere. Whether it is the Dr's waiting room, a long line in the post office, in the car while Daddy runs an errand in a shop, or waiting for food to come to our table in a restaurant. Anywhere that involves waiting means 'Mommy's handbag read aloud' comes out! We get some interested looks from people, but most often they are quite impressed that active boys will sit so still and quiet to listen to a story without pictures being read aloud!! LOL!
Well, it has taken us AGES to get through all 7 books, but this week we finally finished The Last Battle!! Horray!! The boys have loved hearing the full set read aloud and we had lively discussions along the way at times. McGee has become quite the 'Narnia Expert' by now and I found him a really neat book on the market about two months ago called 'The Narnians' which tells about all the different interesting and colorful characters in the books. He reads it over and over, often running in to look something up in it after we have been reading out somewhere.
The rule with the 'handbag readaloud' is that it is never read at home, so sometimes we sail through several chapters a week and other times we go weeks without cracking the book open, just depending on what is going on around here at the time.
Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE Narnia and all of the books in the set. But I have begun to feel like I've been reading them FOREVER!!!!  It will be nice to have a change!
So, it feels like an end of an era. We have had a conference yesterday to determine a new 'handbag book' and of course that involved much discussion!!! LOL! Size of the book plays a big role in the decision making. We would have liked Huckleberry Finn, but our book is large and hardbacked, same with Tom Sawyer. We narrowed it down and finally decided on 'The Railway Children'. The boys saw this film at Christmas time and we bought the video in a charity shop a few weeks ago. Now they will only be allowed to watch it again when we finish the book.
If you have never tried carrying a book around to read aloud, give it a go. It makes for quieter, more well behaved children in situations that would otherwise become quite difficult. I have often had strangers come over and comment on how impressed they are with our children's listening skills after watching us read aloud in a restaurant or waiting room! It has made going out far easier! Give it a go! |
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Apr. 10, 2008 Goodnight Nanna!
I know there are not many people who can say that they still had four grandparents when they got married! I'm one who can say that. My Dad's parents, Nana and Poppy couldn't make the event due to health problems, but they were still alive. And my Grandma and Grandpa were there for the day.
As a matter of fact, my Grandpa married us and I was wearing my Grandma's wedding dress - 50 years and one month to the day after she wore it!!!
When McGee was born my Grandma was sick with cancer and she died when he was six months old, but not untill after we had gotten over to spend a couple of months with her. She was ecstatic to meet her Great-Grandson and enjoyed lots of cuddles!!!
Three years ago when we flew in for Christmas we drove up to Michigan where my Nana and Poppy were in a home and saw them for the first time since the year of our wedding. They got to meet both our boys and we got to be there for their wedding anniversary that year - seventy I think!!
Then last year Poppy passed away. We were sooo glad we had made the trip out when we flew in that time and got to see them both before they got too bad. My Nanna had Alzhiemers (sp?) and my Poppy was getting bad with Dementia. But they both recognized me and that was nice!
Yesterday my Mom told me that my Nanna was not doing well and wasn't eating or drinking. This morning she said that my Aunt who lives near by had visited and she was apparently in a coma and her breathing was quite shallow. My Aunt who lives in Florida jumped straight onto a plane to go and say goodbye, but my Nanna went to be with the Lord before she landed.
I have just spoken to my parents on the webcam. My Dad is upset, but is also very grateful to his new employer who is giving him three days off with pay next week for the funeral!!
Saturday is Bunny's birthday party, so they will drive out to Michigan on Sunday as the funeral is going to be on Tuesday and then they will drive back on Wednesday so he can be back to work on Thursday. At least that is the plan at the moment.
Please pray for both of my Aunts at this time too. As well as loosing both of their parents within the past year, they have both been widowed during that time too!!! So they are finding all of this very hard at the moment, as is all of the family. It is tough to loose two grandparents and two uncles in just over a year!
It is also hard to be so far away from everyone too! I was already upset about missing the birthday celebrations and now this. I don't have many clear memories of Nana as they moved to Florida when I was just four and I only have a handfull of memories from a few brief visits after that.
One VERY clear memory I do have is of sitting on her lap while she trimmed her 'little trees' as I used to call them - Bonsai. She grew these miniature trees and when I was tiny I would sit in her lap as she reached around me to trim them on the table in front of us. I only recalled this memory a few years ago, and my mother confirmed that I did used to sit on her lap while she tended them, although the family had never mentioned it since. It was special for me to know that it was an actual memory and not just me remembering someone talking about it.
Tonight I have sat here and thought that I might just find a garden center tomorrow or this weekend and get myself another bonsai. I say another because I have already killed 2 or 3 of them in the past few years! But I might see if I can find a really hardy variety and a well established one and see if I can make a go of it.
Anyway, in the fifteen years since I got married I have now gone from four Grandparents to just one. And that one has been fighting a recurring cancer for the past four years or so. He keeps on going to work everyday, despite chemo and everything! He simply says that God still has work for him to do and he will carry on with it till the day God calls him home!
Grandpa has baffled the Dr's and all the rest of us. I pray that God grants him the health he needs to be able to join us on a little holiday we have booked for September. We are hoping to take him to his mother's birthplace on the French/Swiss border and then on for a weeks holiday in Italy.
I pray that God grants us that time for my boys to get to really make some memories with their Great Grandpa while they still can. And I wouldn't complain at a few more memories stocked up in my memory banks either!! He is very extra precious to me and when God calls him home, I will be in peices!!!
I'm sorry that this blog seems to be one prayer request after another at the moment. There just seems to be so much going on! Thanks for sticking it out. I'm sure one of these days I'll blog about something boring, like say - homeschooling???
But for now I just want to say 'Goodnight Nanna.' |
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Apr. 7, 2008 A great weekend!
We had a fab weekend! We got off a little later than planned and hit some horrendous traffic on the M25 AT 10:30 AT NIGHT!!!!!! What was THAT all about?? Anyway, it was pushing midnight when we arrived at the home of the family who were organizing the event. They had very kindly offered to put us up for the weekend!
Saturday was a great success! Lisa had put so much effort into the whole day and it showed. Everything ran like clockwork! It wasn't over run with people but there was a steady stream of visitors all day long. Many I spoke to were thinking of pulling their kids from school or had just done so in the past two months!
Also met many of my current customers who just stopped by to say hi. That was really nice to put faces to names and find out how they are getting one.
It was also great to meet up with most of the other homeschool suppliers in the UK! Many of whom were a great help and encouragement to me last year when I was trying to get set up and shouting for help!! So I was the new kid on the block this weekend, but it felt good to be a part of all the great stuff that is happening here in the UK.
Here is a picture of my 'stall'. Please excuse the uneven table clothes!!  We were in a rush setting up and by the time I realised they weren't even, they were too covered with books to fix it! Other than that I was really pleased with how it all looked!
As you can imagine the little bowls of Chocolates in the front there were a HUGE hit! LOL! Especially with the little ones! I had to actually chase off one little girl who managed to snatch nearly a whole bowl every time she thought I wasn't looking!
We made ten sales this weekend with several demo requests as well so it was a great success for our first fair! Things we learned to change?
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Don't pack ALL your stock! You won't need that much. And it is VERY heavy to keep lugging around!
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Check the table clothes before you put the books on.
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Bring plenty of spare chocolate!
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Bring printed price lists! (can't believe I forgot this one!)
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Get hubby trained up to speed on MUS stock before next fair in two weeks time so I can get to the other stalls to have a look at books for us! LOL!
Everytime I snuck off to have a peek, someone would come to our stall and Dh would send one of the boys to come and get me! So I didn't get to look around at all really! So I'm determined to next time.
We had a wonderful time of fellowship with the host family and are already planning a trip down to visit in the summer! We simply got on like a house on fire and none of us wanted to leave!! Especially when we woke up to a snow storm!
Yes! We had a full blown snow storm on the 6th of April!! In two hours we had at least four inches of snow fall! This is huge for a country that comes to a stand still with half an inch!! LOL! We thought we would wait for it to go off a bit as it usually does after an hour or so, but instead it was still coming down thick and fast so we thought we better get going before we got snowed in!!!!
It was a looooong journey back but we made it safely, got the foster kids from respite and got everyone into bed!
So, a weekend spent all with homeschoolers, making new friends, meeting people you have only known by name and email, and successfully 'showing' Math U See for the first time - sounds like a recipe for success to me!
Thanks for the many prayers and well wishes! I do sometimes worry about nothing, but it was all so new I didn't know what to expect. Silly me! Next time I won't get so nervous..........or will I? LOL! |
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Apr. 3, 2008 I think I left my head somewhere!
I'm not quite sure if I'm coming or going at the moment! I'm kind of glad that my head is attached to my shoulders, because I have no idea where my mind is at the moment.
I'm sorry for not updating you all on the weekend's prayer requests sooner! Partly because we did end up using the 'fast pass' on Sunday morning! McGee woke up with a 39'C fever (nearly 103'F) and a cough. These alone wouldn't have worried me too much but he was also complaining of stomach pains! Not feeling sick - just pains. So we rang the ward and headed in to get things checked.
All was fine, but we had to wait quite awhile for him to be able to give a 'water' sample before we could go back home. So we read several chapters of a book before he had drank enough to 'go' as it were. He then yesterday asked (???) to take a nap in the afternoon and woke with an earache. So dh came home from work early to take him to an emergency appointment at the GP's. Monkey went along for the ride and while the Dr was examining McGee, she decided that Monkey had the same thing and gave them both anitbiotics!! I had kept telling Monkey that there was nothing wrong with him! (bad Mommy!)
We have also had Sportacus off school still this week - enough said about that one!! Roll on Monday morning!
It was Pumpkin's first birthday yesterday and things were crazy with his Mum last night. He came back with 3-4 bin liners full of toys!!! HUGE toys that are simply too big for our house, so they went in our loft still in their boxes! About 15 outfits all too big for him, and Sportacus had a new t-shirt on that looked positively EVIL with skulls, snakes and five pointed stars on it!
Jack and Jill are also here twice this week for overnights, so I've had to deal with that too and three contact visits for the foster kids. And we had two social workers here on Monday to start the ball rolling to get Sportacus checked out and a diagnosis of what is going on with him. At least we have some support now! And he saw the Dr yesterday so we should have a referral soon!
On top of all that I'm trying to get everything ready for the little ones to go to a friend's for respite this weekend and for us to get to South london for the resource fair with Math U See! It is my first fair and I'm running in circles trying to figure out what I need to do!
I better go because there is simply too much to do and not enough time to do even half of it! But I wanted to update you all on McGee and let you know why things will be a bit quiet for a few more days as I won't actually be here! Thanks for the prayers and support! What would I do without you all?? |
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Mar. 29, 2008 Belated awards!
I finally got some awards I was given put up on my blog! Some of these were given to me months ago and I didn't have time to sort out who to pass them on to so I didn't do anything with them.
Well, I give up on finding that time, so instead I'm simply going to acknowledge them and thank the people who bestowed them upon me!
Stacey gave the the Blogger Friend award which was very special since she is not only a treasured blog friend but my irl best friend from high school days onwards! This award meant and means alot to me and now I have it proudly displayed. Thanks Stacey!
I've also been given the Excellence blog award by Chrissy, better known as Mamasmurf. This award was actually bestowed upon me twice in one week by two 'smurfs' since her son littlesmurf awarded it to the UK blog that week too! Thanks Chrissy for the great honor and for your friendship!
I'm fairly certain that someone else bestowed another award on my a couple of months ago, but for the life of me I can't remember who or find the comment telling me, nor can I remember what award it was either! So if there is one of my blog friends out there thinking 'She forgot all about that award I gave her!' Then please let me know, because I simply can't find it! I filed it under ' special things to remember to do' and simply cant' find it now! Just so you know there was no offense intended and I haven't deliberately left you out!
I'm not even going to try to pass these on now! But at least they are up. |
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Mar. 29, 2008 Another hospital trip!
Things have been a bit nuts the last couple of days! Then again, are they ever any other way around here???
We have been trying to sort out a little party for Pumpkin's first birthday this coming week. So I booked the village hall as we usually do, then cancelled it as most of the people we were inviting couldn't make it and it seemed silly to pay all that money when we can easily fit in our living room!
Then there has been trying to ring everyone to invite them since I didn't have enough time left to mail or hand out invites by the time we figured out when we could have the party. His Mum has wanted to do something this week too, so we have been trying to organize around her. We had to wait and see what Social Services would allow her to do before we could sort it all out! It is amazing how many people it takes to arrange a one year old's birthday!!
Then I had to shop last night for groceries and for the party - which was finally settled to happen on Sunday afternoon for just an hour. I also had to ship parcels at the post office and pick up bunny food.
All day yesterday McGee kept saying he didn't feel well, but there didn't seem to anything concrete wrong with him, and he couldn't pinpoint a symptom so we just watched him. He wasn't interested in tea last night and went to bed early - very unlike my usual human dustbin!
This morning he woke up and had a high fever and bright red cheeks and a fine pinpoint rash all over his face. He had no headache, sensitivity to light or sore neck so I just made an appointment with the GP to get it checked. And I gave him some paracetamol to bring down the fever. Then I rang his godmother to ask her to pray (she is a nurse practitioner) and she asked me if I had given it the tumbler test.
So I checked the rash which was dark red - not bright, and IT DID'NT FADE UNDER THE GLASS!!!! Can we say, paniced mother now???? So my friend offered to come and sit at my house with the three little ones while I ran him to hospital.
I flurried around sorting everyone out, clothes, food, phone numbers just in case, nappies - you know the drill. Then we flew out the door.
Oh! And I forgot to mention that Dh left at 6:30am to drive to Birmingham and teach all day and then drive back. He wouldn't be home till late and I had no way to reach him! Just to make things more fun!! 
The triage nurse told me I should have stuck with the GP since it would be a long wait and put a non-urgent color sticker on his notes! She obviously thought I was being silly. So we sat and read in the waiting room while we waited. When we were called it was to see the nurse practitioner - not a Dr. so she really didnt' take us seriously!!
The nurse practitioner was lovely and specialised in pediatrics. She checked that rash three times and then went to speak to the pediatric team. She came back and said they definitely wanted to see him and took us to a private side room. We only waited 10 minutes then till the Dr came from the ward to check him over. So I guess people were taking me seriously now!! She had said 'That rash is not fading under pressure!' I told her that I knew that and that was why we had come!
The Dr gave him a FULL check over, head to toe, reflexes, eyes, ears, throat, glands, lymphs, chest, skin all over, and tons of questions. He took half an hour! (a very long time in an NHS hospital A+E department!)
He finally said that McGee probably had a virus which caused a pitichial (sp?) rash and should be observed for at least 24 hours. But he gave me the choice of him being observed on the ward or me observing him at home. Had Dh been here I may have gone with the ward, but with him away it was too much to sort out! So we opted to go home. The Dr then gave us a 'fast pass' to the ward that is good till Monday evening! So if we have any other worrying symptoms or things get worse before that we can go straight to the childrens ward and be seen immediatly - no more waiting in A+E!
So with that peace of mind we are at home and keeping an eagle eye on my dear 8 year old son! I think we are giving church a miss tomorrow just in case and because we are all exhausted from todays events! Also, we will decide in the morning whether to cancel the party altogether or just proceed with McGee staying upstairs and away from the littlies who are coming.
I also had to cancel a trip to a friend's house who lives 1 1/2 hours away. I was supposed to take some things to her that she was going to take to my Mom next week when she flies stateside. Her mom lives near mine and she is playing courier for me! Hopefully we can run up to hers quickly on Tuesday before they leave otherwise I'll have to ship the stuff.
So we are waiting for Dh to get home and getting everyone to bed early tonight! Please pray that we don't have to use our 'fast pass' this weekend. I could use without doing that!
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Mar. 27, 2008 Happy Anniversary!
Today is my parent's 37th Wedding Anniversary! My Mom has a blog here at HSB over at 'Grandma's turn'. I thought it would be great fun if lots of people popped over to wish them Happy Anniversary today! So if you have a minute, please stop by and say hi! Thanks!
Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad! May you have a wonderful day and year to come! |
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