Our Simple Life

Update

Have had much happen so I haven't been on here in a while so I'll try to cover everything.

Last Saturday (the ninth) I hurt my left hip at the gym and haven't worked out since. I'm adjusting but it was very hard the first several days! To rest is difficult for me because the thing I want to do most is MOVE!

I read a novel called A Wedding in December last week. It had me hooked and I read it pretty quickly (five days or so) but when I finished I realized it wasn't so great. The storyline wasn't that strong but the characters were very believable and Shreve describes the setting extremely well which is why I read all of it.

Currently I am reading Sea Glass. It's historical fiction-1929. So far it is good.

Feeling Better

Yesterday I felt quite a bit better than Wednesday. This morning I feel pretty good. :)

I didn't exercise at all on Wed. but yesterday I did. I again did my Crunch cardio video for 30 minutes in the morning; 10 minutes of a new DVD (I'm borrowing from the library) called 20/20 Kick (also in the morning) and then 20-25 minutes of my Power Walking DVD with weighted gloves after dinner. 

As long as my headache doesn't return I plan to workout again today and hopefully go to the gym tomorrow.

Wednesday

Yesterday afternoon I bent over to pick something up and my head (specifically my forehead and sinuses) throbbed really bad. Last night we went out to eat at Roadhouse Grill and again I leaned down and I had really sharp pain, worse than in the afternoon. I went to bed early last night and today I'm doing lousy (physically). Everything must be compacted and I wish it'd just let loose and come out!

This morning I did school with them even with how I was feeling. M had cursive practice (sentences), a money counting worksheet, a page of choosing the right pronoun for the sentence, alphabetized her spelling words, and a subtraction worksheet (she learned how to borrow today, and did really well!). J matched letters A-F with their cooresponding sound words (Aa apple, Bb bell, Cc cat, Dd dog, Ee egg and Ff fox) and glued them together on construction paper. He also listened to the Hooked on Phonics tape and used flashcards with me. He seems to really enjoy it and is catching on quickly. I will probably add a few more letters beyond F in a couple of days.

Stephen got off from work early today because it rained this morning and will be home momentarily. I will probably take a nap this afternoon. :)

I finished Light on Snow. It was really good! I picked up another of Shreve's books called A Wedding in December at the library a few days ago and will start it soon.

Our Sunday

Getting to workout

Stephen worked today and I really didn't think he was going to be home in time for me to go workout at the gym so I went ahead and exercised this morning for 30 minutes with my Crunch video. Well, he ended up getting home a shortly after noon so the kids and I had lunch, I helped him with a few things and then I went to the gym. I worked out for 45-50 minutes (I lost track a little) but it really doesn't matter. I got in almost an hour and a half of exercise today. He took them to Kroger and to recycle so they had a good time with Daddy. :)

Tomorrow we are all going to an outlet mall to *hopefully* get M some good quality pants and jeans. The ones I've gotten around here all get holes in the knees so fast! And the thrift stores who have quality brands for really cheap never have her size (10 or 12) like they have of J's (size 4). 

Here's to finding some good lower halves! lol

Learning Letter Sounds

J has known all the letter names for a while and practices tracing and/or writing them daily. He really likes  to write! M detested writing up until maybe a year ago?? Isn't it cool to see differences in your children when you KNOW it has nothing to do with you, your parenting style, or the child's environment; it's their individual personality shining through? I think it's neat. 

At the first of the week I gave him upper and lowercases of each: a, b, and c to trace. I had decided I was going to tell him the letter sound of each as he traced each one and see what he thought and if he seemed ready to really learn them yet. He thought it was great! I said "A, aaaaaaaa" and did the ASL sign. He repeated me with a big grin on his face. :) Then I said the Hooked On Phonics word to go with A. I said "A, aaaaaaaa, apple" and again he copied me. It was really cute to see him respond like that. So we did the first three letters, and I'll probably do a few more next week. :)

Light on Snow and taking it easy

A few days ago I bought a book called Light On Snow by Anita Shreve. Over a year ago I read another one of her books called The Pilot's Wife and it was a good read so I'm hoping I enjoy this one as well. I'm on page 60 now and so far it's good. She has a way of writing where it's somewhat suspenseful but not scary at all (which is good because I don't do scary!)

This morning when I woke up my ears were aching and throat was a little sore. I took some Dayquil and it helped a lot. I didn't exercise at all yesterday (that will be my off day for the week) and so far today I've walked one mile. I just don't have much energy for some reason. I hope I'm not getting what M and J have.

J is doing much better. Last night he slept 12 hours without any coughing. : ) Today he has been more energetic but he has such bags under his eyes! You'd think he had very little sleep last night. Maybe it's the steroids. I don't know.

Stephen has to work tomorrow, again. It's good that he's getting so much overtime now (financially, I mean) but I miss him being home.

I was in the kitchen a lot this morning. I made banana muffins, banana nut bread and peanut butter cookies. I filtered 4 gallons of water too. Washed the dishes in the sink and emptied the dishwasher. Did I mention I also did laundry?

Can all of that count as exercise (especially since I didn't eat any of the stuff I made)? ;)

Maybe I'll feel up to riding the bike tomorrow.

Third Grade Spelling

J has croup

Yesterday J really seemed fine. He didn't have a cough and his energy level was up from the day before. But then last night he went to bed at 7:00 and a little while later he was barking (not continuously but here and there). At 11:00 when Stephen and I went up to bed I checked on him and he sounded like he was wheezing and not getting much air in. I covered him with his blanket and he moved around a little. As soon as he started moving he started coughing. It sounded so bad so I got him up and gave him a breathing treatment of Pulmicort and Albuterol. He was retracting his chest some and I was still so scared from the last time that I called 911. They came and said his chest sounded clear but his pulse-ox was at 95 (they say that's "normal" but J's healthy pulse-ox is always 99 so I was NOT comfortable with a 95). I decided to take him to the hospital in my car rather than the ambulance since he didn't need oxygen.

At the hospital the waiting room was full and J had gotten to be feeling much better after the Albuterol and the cold air outside so we went home because I couldn't see waiting 4-5 hours (at least) if he was o.k. enough to wait to see a doctor today. We came home and he waatched a little t.v. and had another treatment of Pulmicort and calmed down some enough to go back to bed. I didn't hear from him until 6:55 so I thank the Lord for that rest and His protection.

Crunch video

Today I was able to do my Crunch video (all cardio, no strength training) for 30 minutes and then did it again this afternoon, so that makes an hour-yay! That's my goal every day but I don't usually end up doing it for various reasons. My average is 30-45 minutes a day/ 6 days a week.

Our little boy is sick

J rarely gets sick but when he does sometimes he has breathing problems. The last time that happened was last Thanksgiving (as in, 2006). He had a cold about 6 months ago with no problem but it was a mild cold. Yesterday he felt lousy and his nose ran all day. By last night he was exhausted and said his throat was hurting. Early this morning my husband said he heard J doing some "croupy" coughing. We'll need to do a couple of breathing treatments today as a preventive measure. I don't think we'll need to go to the doctor unless I see a difference in his breathing (if it becomes labored). I know if I take him in they'll prescribe him with an oral steroid which I want to avoid unless absolutely necessary. The Pulmicort used in the nebulizer is WAY smaller of a dose than the oral stuff. A doctor once told me that it was better to do Pulmicort every day for a year than take the oral steroid for 5 days. So we're watching him carefully today.

Going to bed early

Yesterday afternoon both M and J were complaining of sore throats and J's nose ran all day. Last night M was looking and acting like she could go to bed at 7:00 when J did but the 7 yr old in her won out and she stayed up until 7:50 when I got done laying J down. When she was about to get in bed, she looked at me and kind of rolled her eyes and said "I can't go to bed at 7-something." and then collapsed into bed. I assured her that by the time she fell asleep it would be 8-something. ;)

J just got up and he said his throat is still hurting. I was originally planning to take them to the zoo today because the temperature is up so much outside but I'll have to see how they both feel. We have a membership so we could always leave if it's too much.

Above all

There is a song on Michael W. Smith's "Worship" CD that I just love (among many). It's called "Above all". He sings about all the things the Lord is above (kingdoms, treasures of the earth, thrones, etc) but my favorite line in the whole song is "Above all wisdom and all the ways of man, You were here before the world began." That just blesses me so much because there have many things in our life that have gone against what the "wisdom" of this earth (doctors, psychologists, and other "professionsla") have said was the right way.

When our daughter had a skin infection and the dermatologist wanted her to take a drug for 12 weeks that "may cause cancer" and causes photosensitivity, we said NO. The Lord gave us zero peace about it and I researched online what alternatives were. I found out that a simple cream applied daily would clear it up in a few weeks and it did.

When our son had an unexplained fever of close to, and sometimes exceeding, 103 for three days and the doctors and nurses wanted to do multiple blood tests and a catheter to test his urine, we said NO. Again, the Lord had us wait on Him for the answer. On the fourth day, the fever left him and was replaced by a rash all over his torso and back. He had a very common childhood virus called Rosiola which went away the day following the rash.

One thing we have been caused to see through different situations is that our society is driven by money so most decisions that "professional" advocate are in place because financially it will benefit someone. Because of this, we are very careful to evaluate every decision with the Lord's guidance and yield to His Spirit. He is so gracious to us to always be there. Always.

Why the rush?

It seems like our society has become obsessed with children "schooling" at way too young of an age. I can't tell you how many times a parent has said something to me about their child not doing "enough" in the way of academics (and they're only 2 or 3 years old) or that their child is WAAAYYY above other children their age and will probably be a brain surgeon or something equally brilliant when they're an adult. I know parents naturally want their child to do well but, to me, it's too much. Look at how the stores all push the "brain-boosting" materials and toys for toddlers and preschoolers (probably even babies). Why do kids need to be pushed? They are natural learners. They learn to talk by listening and they learn to crawl and walk out of the physical desire to do it; so why all the pressure for "school"?

What is it that children are rushing toward? Late childhood, being a teenager, adulthood? WHY?!?  Early childhood is supposed to be a time of play and exploration; being read to and playing games; building with blocks and putting puzzles together. It makes me very sad when I see the stress the parent puts on themself who wants their child to excel so badly. Instead of enjoying the blessing of those first several years, they spend it worrying about academic achievement.

I have a four year old son, J (he turned four a month ago) and I guess it's been about a year or so now that people ask all the time if he goes to school (or rather, "Where does he go to school?"). It's just assumed that all preschool-aged children attend school now. For the love of Cheerios-WHY?!? 

About a month ago I found out from an over-zealous mother that they actually have 2K classes in private schools! (And that her daughter was learning to read) The following week a father expressed his concern to me that his son would be starting a 2K class in the spring and he didn't feel he was ready. Today a woman showed surprise that we homeschool and said her son doesn't learn from her and that she could never homeschool him. She said she tries to give him worksheets but he doesn't follow directions. I then  asked how old her son was, and to my shock (but not really) she said, "He's three." I tried to help her relax and encourage her that her son was where he should be and that games work much better for learning at around 4 or 5 years old, but alas, she was content to be miserable about it.

I won't stop trying to help anxious parents, though. Sometimes I get through to a few. They can see the peace I have and I think it's appealing to them. It also seems to help when I mention that even though we don't make "school" a huge thing and that we have a lot of outside time and playtime, that both of our kids are beyond where they would be if they were in school. For example, a lot of what M learns is self-motivated. We give her math and grammar, etc. but she natually loves science and geography and reading. J knows all the letters and practices tracing a lot; he loves to do computer games and 24 pice puzzles. We spend 30 minutes to an hour on "school" each day and then they learn the rest of the day through play and exploration. We school year round since it's so laid back but take days "off" when the need arises (like a day of swimming , etc.)

I pray that things change and parents start backing away from the pressures society puts on them. Children don't need to be little geniuses.

Just my humble opinion.

Elliptical Trainers

I went to the Mall with M & J yesterday to get M a coat but no one had any decent ones, but anyway....we were in Sears and I happened to see their section of tools and exercise equipment was next to the girl's clothes section. Stephen and I had just been talking about elliptical trainers and their costs. We wondered if the more expensive ones were really that much better than the cheaper ones. So, after we were done looking at coats we walked over to the exercise stuff. There were 9-10 ellipticals, ranging from $399-$1299(and those are sale prices) so I got on each one starting with the cheapest one. There really is a difference between them! I couldn't believe how uncomfortable the $400, $500, and $600 ones were! I loved the $800 one and it is made by NordicTrac. Beyond that, I didn't care for the rest. Two made me motion sick and the most expensive was huge (really for a gym, not a home).

Anyway, that's my consumer report.....lol

Random thoughts

Today it is cold. With the windchill, it is around 13 degrees. I will be happy when it warms up enough for the kids to go outside and play. I have to really monitor their electronic use when the weather is non-compliant. J especially would play games in front of a screen all day if I didn't interfere. We have a gameboy color (not an Advance); lots of computer games for learning; and an Atari system (I know, ancient, but our kids are young enough to still think the games are fun!)

I love observing M & J when they're outside. They find sticks and rocks and will come up with all sorts of things to pretend. For the last few weeks, M has had all our sand buckets full of dirt she sifts and mixes and stirs them and pretends each bucket is a different type of food. I'm glad M hasn't gotten too old for that stuff. I mean, she's only seven (almost eight) but nowadays it doesn't seem unusual for kids to grow up too fast. She also plays with her Barbies and Littlest Petshop as well as her stuffed animals sometimes. J drives his cars and trucks, plays with his Buzz Lightyear and likes books and puzzles.

Onto another topic.....I did 30 more minutes of exercise yesterday after posting the 23 I did in the morning. I need to keep this momentum going! I feel so much more energetic when I workout each day. Good news: I drank 2 1/2 bottles of water yesterday. That is an accomplishment for me but not too hard to do when I exercise as much as I did. I'm thinking that today I would like to walk a few miles and then ride the stationary bike for as long as I can (probably 15-20 minutes).  I may even do Fit Kids with J (and M if she's interested) this afternoon.

I am currently reading On Her Own by Wanda Brunstetter. It is about an Amish woman who is a widow and has four boys (one of which is a newborn). She owns a harness shop but is unable to work in it until she recovers from having her baby so she hires an Amish man to help her and it appears that they will end up together by the end of the book. I love reading about Amish life. I don't agree with some of their religious beliefs but their lifestyle is very simple and VERY appealing to me! I've read several of her other books and have thoroughly enjoyeed them except for the predictablity of them. I've also read Beverly Lewis but I'm not too crazy for her books. There is a somewhat negative tone in her books which is too bad because she has written a ton of them.

Today we're going to the library. I think we'll go this morning before lunch and then *hopefully* J will take a nap around 1:00. He got up 10 minutes after me (5:40) so he's going to be awfully tired come this evening if he doesn't nap.

Fitness accomplishment

Exercising

Now that I'm not sick anymore (with the cough that lasted 3 weeks!) I'm back on track with my exercise. Like I posted, Saturday I went to the gym and got in 60 minutes using the elliptical and the treadmill; on Sunday I rested; Monday I did 15 minutes of walking and 10 minutes of my "Ramp It Up" video (lunges, squats, etc.); yesterday I did 40 minutes of walking/jogging and 10 minutes strength exercises.

This morning I walked/jogged a mile and a half. If Stephen gets home from work earlier enough I'd love to go to the gym again this afternoon.

Cursive writing and spelling

M has been doing some casual learning of cursive writing for several months now. Her name looks great and tracing individual words is easy for her. I have yet to have her practice writing things in cursive without tracing but I think she's almost ready.

I asked her tonight at dinner how she felt she was doing with it and she fist, LOL, said "Why? Why are you asking that?" ;) And I said that I was just wondering, just curious. She said she felt o.k. but that she wasn't very good at it. Instead of agreeing or disagreeing, I asked her what she thought might help her do better. She said that each day for school she should practice tracing the whole alphabet, first lower then upper case. I asked her if she wanted the arrows on it and she said that, yes, that that would probably help.

M will be 8 in April so she would be in second grade if she went to school. Well, from when she first began writing at age 5, I never pushed the spelling thing. If she wanted to know how to spell a word I would tell her or write it down for her to copy. She is somewhat of a perfectionist so if she wanted to know how to spell the word, she wanted to know! not "guess" or "think" she might be spelling a word right. Inventive spelling would've been torture for her.

When she was 6 I bought her a personal dictionary that has many words for each letter as well as lines you can write more words on. She enjoyed this a lot and it quickly taught her to alphabetize as well. Over the course of a year she had begun needing it less and less, epsecially with high frequency words. Also, her confidence grew on her ability to sound words out.

Starting this past August (when she would've entered second grade) I started a spelling notebook with her. I gave her ten spelling words a week and an activity for each day (M-F) to review them. The activities I found online were: Use the words in sentences; Alphabetize the ten words; Draw a picture for each word; Rainbow words (write each word in a different color using marker or colored pencil; Write words in cursive; Type words on computer using different fonts and sizes & then print; Write each word and then write a word next to it that ryhmes. She did very well with memorizing the words and she didn't complain too much about the activities because I'd let her choose which one she wanted to do each day.

A month or two ago I was browsing spelling lists online and I saw more second grade words that I had yet to teach/test her on. But, as I was looking I wondered if she didn't already know all those words. M was sitting on the couch in the same room as me at the time so I handed her a piece of paper and a pencil and told her I wanted to see how many of the following words she could spell-no pressure, I was just curious. Well, do you know she got all the 15 words right? It boosted her confidence so much that I decided to start doing that more often. Now, every time I "quiz" her she usually gets all of them right (there've been a few times she's missed one).

One thing that has helped her tremendously is her ability to read so well. She reads between fourth and fifth grade level (of course, fiction at that level is almost always inappropriate for her, maturity wise, so she sticks mainly to long non fiction books). Because of her strength in reading, she knows what words look like. If she writes a word and it is spelled incorrectly, she sees it immediately. She may not always know the correct spelling, but she does know when it's wrong!

I think I'll move on to third grade lists soon and start the ten words a week again. It was very effective in teaching her new words. :)

Working out at the gym

There's a rec center near us that has a great fitness center with elliptical machines, treadmills, bikes, etc. They charge $3 per time or $20 a month. Since no one under 17 is allowed in there I can only go when my husband is home with M & J. Well, this morning I went and started working out at 10:00 and only a few other people were there so I got to do what I like and jump around the machines. I did the elliptical for 25 minutes, the treadmill for 10, then back to the elliptical for another 10, and finally the treadmill for another 15. So, total-one hour of exercise today!

I feel really good and I hope to go again as often as I can (at least a few times a month).

OH! And while I was jogging I happened to look out the window panels along the top of the gym and saw that it was indeed snowing! We've had it all day but only about an inch has stuck. The temperature just isn't cooperating but I know it's supposed to deop into the 20's tonight. : )