Jul. 27, 2008 - Weekend WrapUp
This weekend was alot of fun. The fact that I was feeling pretty good helped alot. It's been about 3 weks since the last seizure and on a scale of 1-5 it was only a 3 :0)
For starters on Friday night we went to play volleyball at Carries Coffee Mill/7 Acre Wood. It's run by a great homeschooling family and my oldest dd Melody is their manager. The boys had been to baseball camp all week and I'm amazed they had any energy left!
Jesse getting ready to serve the ball
Then on Sunday we went to spend the afternoon with Fred's mom. We don't live to far, Grandma likes the company and the kids love the fact that she lives on the lake, has a pool and usually a freezer full of BlueBell Ice Cream! We recently bought some kayacks and the have been having a blast with them. 
The Kayaks
Bethany waving to the rest of us on shore
William looking very serious!
Me fixing a life jacket
Audrey taking a swim in the lake
Sarah, David & William paddling away
So we're home now, it's late and I should be in bed since we start school back up tomorrow. But I'm trying to learn how to post pictures. Blogs are so much more interesting with pictures don't you think?
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Jun. 14, 2008 - Happy Anniversary!!
Well, I know I said I would post more about some of the changes I've had to make in my diet because of the seizures I have been having, but frankly I just don't feel like it :0) This diet thing consumes so much of my life now that I get a little weary of it and need a break. So how about a much happier topic? Like the fact that I just had my 26th wedding anniversary! I'm going to be 50 years old this Oct. (and I'm not ashamed of it at all, in fact I think it's pretty cool!) So that means that I have been married for more then half of my life!! How awesome is that! Fred and I met at Townson State College in Baltimore and were both heavily involved in our respective fraternity and sororities. So much so that we didn't get much school done. Anyway, the end of the story is we dropped out and got married. Many would say, "oh no what a dumb thing to do," and maybe it was, but 26 years later I have no regrets. Some of the years were difficult and most of the years I was constantly feeling like I was running to catch up to Fred and all his crazy ideas (He was for homeschooling long before I was comfortable with it, he stepped out of the organized, only be a Christian on Sunday mentality while I followed along rather cautiously, and he was confidently running his own business instead of a 9 - 5 job for many years before I was no longer afraid of the idea.). All that is to say I am so thankful for my husband. So many I know have to deal with critical, controlling, or apathetic partners, but not me. God has blessed me with a great marriage and a great husband. Even though we may not agree 100% all the time for the most part we are in harmony with our thoughts, in agreement with our convictions and in love with each other, now isn't that more interesting than organic rice cakes versus gluten free crackers? It is for me! Love to my hubby.
Terri
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Jun. 12, 2008 - Changing eating habits
Wow, this journey into the land of extreme diets is crazy!! If you read my last post you know I've been having seizures and have a yeast overgrowth. Part of the plan to eleminate the seizures and the yeast is to change my eating habits. Now I've never been a total health nut and I'm definately not a vegetarian, however, I thought my diet was pretty healthy for the most part. I didn't drink soda's at all, limited my coffee to 2 cups per day and rarely ate sweets. My weakness was chips, sour cream & onion to be exact. However, since my first seizure I have switched to plain. I ate whole wheat bread, and tried to make most things from scratch. Apparently for me, and as I'm learning many others like me, that's not quite good enough.
So what can I eat? Well it's kinda divided up. As part of the yeast cleanse I can't have any sugar, or carbos. Potatoes in moderation, however I don't think that includes chip:0( Fruits are limited to green apples, berries (which thankfully are in season right now), and citrus (except I'm allergic to oranges). I can eat meat: beef, chicken, turkey, fish (which I had already cut out of my diet due to the amount of mercury in fish) but it has to be plain, no sauces or breading etc. And of course there is always vegetables. My taste for them is expanding, I'm learning to enjoy them and cook them in a variety of ways. It's really all a matter of what your used to and I just need to get used to different stuff!
Then along comes the matter of glutamte and aspartate. Now aspartate has never been a part of my diet but the glutamate well....... What is glutamate you might ask? It's basically foods or additives that can overstimulate the neurons in your brain if you are sensitive to it, which it appears I am. Read the book Excitotoxins the taste that kills by Russell Blaylock especially if you have any kind of neurological problem or kids with ADHD, autism or learning disablities. It's pretty technical but has alot of great info.
So although I fix alot of things from scratch, now I have to go extreme and cook everything from scratch, which is ultimately better for the whole family but hard to do when you can't cheat AT ALL. Try the Dr. Feinglod site and diet if your interested or www.truthinlabeling.org for lots of information on this topic. MSG is in everything and often labeled as something else. Today at the store I had to buy tomato paste instead of tomato sauce because every brand of sauce had something extra on the label. Tomato sauce, come on why do they need to flavor tomato sauce? This a good example of how someone may think they are fixing healthy food for their family when in reality they are not. I was thinking of making spanish rice for tomorrow nights dinner and maybe experimenting with some homemade spaghetti sauce. Well good thing I checked the labels or I would have been putting additives into my food just like the packaged stuff does.
Well I think that's enough for tonight, tomorrow I will try to write about the G.A.R.D diet and celiac disease and sulfate sensitivities. Besides here I am talking about diets and I should be writing about the fact that it's my 26th wedding anniversary. Since this diet makes going out to dinner nearly impossible we are going to settle for a movie at home once the kids are in bed! Night all and God bless.
Terri
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May. 23, 2008 - Tests were negative!!
Well, here's a topic that I have not blogged about as yet but it very much a part of our families life. Back in Jan. of 07 I woke up to a group of EMT's surrounding my bed and asking me dumb questions like "What's your husbands name" and "Who's the current president of the United States"? The problem was I didn't know the answers! Apparently I had a grand mal seizure, stopped breathing, turned blue, and totaly freaked out my husband!!! He called 911 and later told me he thought I was dead. Well that was the beginning of a long journey into the world of seizures. I have had 2 other grand mal seizure since then and many partial seizures. Now that I know what I'm looking for it seems I have been having minor seizures all my life. Interesting thing to find out about yourself in your old age:o)
Our search for an answer to how to stop the seizures has led us many places like to a quack neurologist who brings her pet doggies to work with her. Our current course is with a functional medicine Dr. who seems to be on the same page that we are. She is trying to help us find the WHY of the seizures as opposed to just treating the symptoms.
Two weeks ago I had an MRI/MRA done to look for a brain tumor or brain aneurysm. The tests results came back negative. The Dr. said the tests were perfect and I say Thank You Jesus!! However that brings us back to WHY am I having these seizures? Other tests showed I have an overgrowth of yeast in my system, that my estrogen & testosterone levels are high, that my serotin levels are low, and that I have several food allergies that I was not aware of. So the Dr. has started me on some supplements and a prescription to help kill the yeast as well as asking me to go on a yeast cleanse diet and an aspartate, glutamate free diet. Yuck!! So although the diet is difficult, compared to brain surgery I think I can handle it :o) I'll let you know how it goes.
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Apr. 20, 2008 - Homeschool Baseball
Years ago when my now 19 year old son was about to enter Jr. High we had a big decision to make. See one of his favorite things to do was play baseball and he was very good at it. He would soon be too old to play with the local city league and the only homeschool option was a long drive away. Back then babies were still coming every year or so and the time commitment was just to much. So, my dh who is never one to sit still and let a good idea pass him by decided to start a homeschool team in our area. Many years later we have a thriving program (www.northsidefalcons.com) with both a High School and Jr. High program. This past week the team competed in the 9th annual homeschool world series west regional tournament. Four teams from each region advance to the world series held in Fla. next month. Although the Falcons did not advance the team played some great games and had alot of fun. If your interested in learning more about this you can check out www.hwsa.net Anyway, after being gone all week my oldest son (who was coaching) and my oldest daughter (who was score keeping) are homeagain. We sure have missed them. So, do I have a point to this? I quess just that our entire family is involved in this great program in one way or another. Over the years it has bought both difficulties and joys and God has used it to teach us many lessons. And not just us but the whole team. I have read articles that claim competitive sports are not good for christains to be involved in but I beg to differ. Our boys have learned to win and lose graciously, to lift up their team mates, to help and lift up those who may not play as well and still be humble when they bring in the winning run. The moms get together and pray before each game and the boys pray together both before and after. They have even prayed for and with the competing team. These guys are learning through baseball to do their best and then no matter what the outcome, win or lose, to give the glory to God. Many public school coaches and even the umpires see how different our team is and my experience is that most of the homeschool teams act in the same God honoring fashion. So, if your kids like to play sports and there is a homeschool team near you give it a try and maybe I'll get to meet up with you in the bleachers!
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Apr. 5, 2008 - Time to catch up?
Well, it's almost 9:00 in the morning and I'm the only one out of bed, how weird is that! It has been a crazy, busy time for us, but it finally seems to be slowing down. The last 3 months have been filled with a wedding for my neice, 5 birthdays, the county fair (we won in rabbits and with some candy yeah!) and the start of baseball season. Only 2 boys are playing this year but the oldest is coaching now so it still amounts to 3 boys plus a minimum of 5 games plus several practices per week. It doesn't seem like much written down but boy has life been full! So full I haven't posted about all these fun events or uploaded any of the many pictures that were taken. Maybe I can catch up now that some of the big events are over.
Oh well, people are starting to stir and we have 2 double headers to go to today. I'll post baseball stats tonight and maybe get some fair pictures up tomorrow.
GO FALCONS!
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Feb. 17, 2008 - Weekend Wrap Up
This was suppose to be posted last night but I was trying to figure out how to add a picture. Before I could get it figured out it was time for teeth to be brushed, and stories to be read and prayers to be said, plus a short meeting with the older kids about the heavy schedule we have this upcoming week. I tried again this morning but there was school and shopping and a birthday celebration to get ready for. So instead of "Weekend Wrap Up" on Sunday night I am posting it on Monday. Oh well, better late than never and the good news is I figured out how to post a picture!
Well, it was a busy weekend. Friday was our homeschool baseball teams 1st game of the season. Unfortunately the opposing team had their schedule wrong so instead of a game we had an intra-squad scrimmage. Basically we divided the boys up and they played against each other. It was great fun despite the on and off rain showers, the final score being 13 - 7.
NORTHSIDE FALCONS BASEBALL TEAM
Then on Saturday my oldest had a birthday party. She is turning 24 on Monday. It was just a group of friends playing ping - pong and games, singing songs and eating good food. Lots of fun, but everyone was sooo tired on Sunday. In the afternoon there was music practice for my neice's upcoming wedding, and birthday planning for our family celebration. The week ahead is also full of acitivity so I will post when I can.
Have a good week!
From Terris Corner
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Feb. 14, 2008 - Baseball season has begun!
Hey, anyone out there playing homeschool baseball? Our family loves baseball! We love everything about it. We like to watch baseball, talk baseball, watch games, play games, score games and figure out statistics and batting averages. Setting up a line up or figuring out who can play what base when certain other players are pitching is counted as great fun in my house.
When my oldest son was only 8 (he's 19 now and coaching) he started playing baseball in our local pony league. Dad was soon coaching and the rest of us became spectators and learned the game. By the time he got to the Jr. High level he was a pretty good player. Unfortunately, unless we put him in public school, and that wasn't going to happen, his baseball career was about to end. The only homeschool team we knew about was too far away so my husband decided to start one. This year will be the eighth year we have directed homeschool baseball and our high school team www.northsidefalcons.com will play the first game of the season tomorrow, providing it doesn't rain! So tonight I'm gleefully packing extra sweaters and snacks and digging out the scorebook in anticipation of a fun filled afternoon. So, if you love baseball and your in the area come cheer us on. Otherwise check back here I'm sure I will be posting about baseball often since I have two other boys playing this year.
GO FALCONS!
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Jan. 20, 2008 - The bunnies are here!!
The bunnies are here!! The bunnies are here!!
My kids are pretty active in 4-H. One of their projects is raising rabbits and showing them in our local county fair each March. Well this years bunch was born today. Unfortunately for the babies it got colder than usual in good ole Texas and quite a few of them didn't survive. This was momma Gracie's first litter and I quess she wasn't smart enough to keep them covered and warm , all 9 of her babies were dead when I got up this morning. Then momma bunny Cleo had 4 pink healthy babies, she covered them well with fur and hay and they seem to be in good shape. Then momma Chloe had 9 babies. Unlike Gracie she is an experienced momma so we were surprised to find that she also was not covering her babies properly. We got some old towels and took each of the babies and held them under the heat lamps while we rubbed them and warmed them up. Then we pulled some of Chloe's fur (it doesn't hurt , they're suppose to do this themselves) and covered the babies well. We also fostered 2 of Chloe's babies over with Cleo so they'd have a better chance of survival. We have one more momma named Abigail who is late and I hope she can hold off until tomorrow when it warms up a little. We'll see, better head off to bed so I can be up early and check on them and to all mommas everywhere "keep your bunnies warm tonight" !!
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Jan. 9, 2008 - An Easy Day?
Oaky as a mom of 8 children life is never slow. The last 2 days have been incredibley busy with baseball practice, extras for dinner, dh with a toothache, and starting school back up after the holidays. Add to that the fact that everyone here is very interested in the presidential primaries and there is constant discussion going on, or someone reading someone else an article on the web, or there's a debate to watch etc. etc. so, if I didn't have information overload before I sure do now! Well last night the older kids (dd23, dd21, & ds19) were getting ready to go spend the night with their grandma like they do most Tues. (For those that don't know grandmommy lives alone in a big house about 15 min. away & although she's in good health we like to make sure someone is there with her at least once or twice a week. Besides the kids love her and she loves to spend time with them. She may be 86 but she is definately young at heart!) Anyway, one thing led to another and before I knew it 6 kids instead of 3 were telling me goodbye and heading out to spend the night at grandmommys. I won't bore you with all the twisted details, or go over all the stellar logic my kids used to get me to agree to this but I eventually said okay and began wondering what 24 hours with only 2 kids would be like. My thoughts were wow just 2 kids this is gonna be easy!
Well, let me tell you wasn't quite as easy as I expected : o) First off I had to get up even earlier than usual becasuse dh had an early dentist appt. I set the alarm for 6:00 got dh up, turned on the coffee and promptly went back to bed. I finally woke back up when he got home back home at 8:30, oops. Now sleeping in isn't a big deal when you have older kids at home that can get a bowl of cereal for the youngers but that wasn't the case today, they were all at grandma's house remember? It also meant I had to help the 6 year old empty the drain board and the 8 year old with the breakfast dishes. Granted there weren't many but I usually don't have to do any, the 11 & 13 yo's have this job. Oh well, bonding time right? Then we did some school and during a break I realized that the dog is shedding and I have to vacuumn (usually Katie's job). Once that job was finished I went to swap some laundry in the bathroom. I noticed it needed a wipe down, again not my job so I decided it wasn't so bad after all and just left it as is. Oh, one more problem I need something for dinner and I need to wait for all the drivers to get home, plus the dog needs to be brushed, and the yard needs a pickup, and there is more election news to discuss....
So, what's the moral of this long whiney post about all the work I have to do? Well I quess just remembering that although my house is often messy, chaotic, crowded, loud (I could go on & on) we really do get alot accomplished around here. Having less people in the house did not make it an easy day (although I did manage to write this post). Everyone here loves God, loves each other and for the most part pitches in cheerfully to do their part to keep the household running smoothly. I feel blessed and can't wait for the kids to get home and fill the house up with noise. Did I really just say that!
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Dec. 15, 2007 - Boring Day
WoW! I haven't written in a long time, but believe it or not right now life is very lazy and dull. Most people are hustling and bustling about, shopping, going to parties and going crazy trying to fit it all in. My life on the other hand seems to be going uncharacteriscally slow. School is getting done, the house is "clean enough" and although I need to brave the crowds and go shopping today and out to dh's mom's house tomorrow the calander is very empty next week. You would think I would seize the time, grab my "I never have time for this project" list and do something major like scrub the very nasty bathtub, rake the leaves in the yard, finish my website, finally teach my 11 year old dd to crochet or something equally grand. Instead I'm sitting here writing a post and drinking a second cup of coffee, while the kids watch mindless TV. Oh well posting is important too, right!!
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Jun. 22, 2007 - Yard Sales and Nanny Government
Okay. so what does a yard sale and the government have to do with each other? Until today I assumed nothing
I forced myself out of bed early this morning. I had been planning a yard sale for the past week so I could hopefully rid my home of some unwanted junk. I wanted to be cheerfully collecting dimes, quarters and dollars for my out grown clothing and useless nick-nacks by 8:00. My friend Valerie was bringing her stuff over today and friend Debbie is going to be joining us tomorrow. You see I have an ideal location to have a yard sale because my neighborhood is zoned both commericial and residential. Lots of the old house have been turned into small business' which generates a bit of traffic and the streets on either end are pretty busy throughfares. With simple signs at each end of the street lots of people notice the yard sale plus we can count on the other business' contributing to the number of shoppers. I do this every year and it helps to keep some of the clutter down in the house and make a little money at the same time. Well today at about 11:00 a City Fire truck (not a fire engine just a red pick up truck) pulls up to the curb with 2 guys in it. I thought they were looking for a bargin but then one of the guys motions for me to come to the curb. He hands me a business card with the title of city code enforcer on it and tells me I can't have a yard sale without a permit. That I have to go down to city hall and register for a permit and that the signs I put up at the end of my street are on city property and have to be taken down. That or he will shut me down. Shut me down? What does he think I'm selling? This is used clothing and books and old bedspreads for heavens sake. Why do I need to register for that. Now I know it's really not that big a deal and I promptly sent my son downtown to fill out the paper work and get a permit but it's the thought that counts. I should be able to hold a simple yard sale without having city code enforcers threatening to shut me down. I should be able to put up a sign about my yard sale at the end of my street, if that's city property oh well, I pay my taxes. How much of my tax money went to pay this guys salery so he can drive around and rid the city of middle age mommys selling * gasp * unwanted and abused stuffed animals. This is just another example of how invasive government has gotten, they seem to want to micro manage every aspect of our lives and force us to get permission to do things that ought to be up to us whether we do or not. Register for a yard sale?! Good Grief what will they think of next.
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Jun. 20, 2007 - Blogging Newbie
Hello to the online world! I finally took the plunge and set up my own blog. My dh runs his own advertising business so he's always writing something for someone. My oldest dd has a myspace page. The next oldest has a xanga and is on facebook, along with my 18 yr old son. Even my 14 year old dd has a xanga page. They all seem to be having so much fun that I decided to join the fam and give online journaling a try.
So here it is. I'm a homeschool mommy of 8. I love reading, organizing, homeschooling and all the many things my kids are involved it (4-H, tennis, baseball, music, ......) and I hope to post about all of it right here... as soon as I find the time.
