Moving this blog

I am moving this blog to http://striderightsince1988.blogspot.com/. Pardon me as I make that switch.  We are going to free ourselves for a while from home internet so I am in the process of making sure I can access everything that is important.   Since my blog is tied to my old email address, I am not sure I’d still be able to access it once we dump the internet provider so I’ve created a new blog and am moving the old one to it so I can continue to post once in a blue moon. 

Thanks to all four of my followers for reading my blog. 

Photos

Went to Kentucky over the Holiday last month and had a nice visit with family.  Here are a couple pictures.

 

Us.

Father-Daughter chat.

My handsome cousin I had not seen in a while.  Looks more and more like his dad, my uncle, as he gets older. 

Baby cousin with adorable long hair. 

Another adorable cousin. 

Sad Days

In the midst of the joy that spring and the end of school brings, we have had some sad days as well. 

We had to put our dog, Sam, age 14, to sleep last week.   Great dog who took a part of our hearts with her. 

Our homeschool community lost two moms in May.  One passed away of complications from a bone marrow transplant for leukemia.  The other one developed an infection around her heart that led to severe congestive heart failure and kidney failure.  Both moms were 44.  The latter was a single adoptive mom.  Some things are just hard to understand. 

The memorial service for the second one was today.  I have never worn a t-shirt or anything with Mickey Mouse to a funeral before but it was her request and a fine one I might add. This afternoon, while we were at McD's and I was still wearing my t-shirt, an employee with special needs stopped me to tell me she liked my shirt. It made me think of all those people that Diana has touched with her life and service to others.  Diana cared for people who were mentally disabled.  Her legacy will live on through them.  I am privileged to have known Diana and to have shared some good conversations and laughs. I am glad I will see her again.  See you later, Diana.

 

 

Spring Piano Recital 2013

 

Sean played his own composition “Nightmare”.

Marksman

Sean inherited the target-shooter gene.  He completed eight weeks of air rifle for 4H.    They  have certain requirements for earning Marksman which he achieved.  His highest target was a 96% which means he got three 10s and two 9s on a bullseye. 

 

Spring Soccer

The last soccer games were this morning.  The first baseball game was this afternoon.  The kids had a really good season and lots of fun.  Sean’s team has a lot of talent and were on fire this morning.  They won 7-1 and scored 5 of those in the first half.  Sierra had a great coach and the girls got along great. 

 

Allergies/Sensitivities

 

 

Soccer Season is Here

New to us this year is that both Sean and Sierra are playing.  This is Sierra’s first season.  She was very excited. 

Out of the six weeks, there are only two games that are at the same time.  Their fields probably could not be farther apart so it should be interesting. 

This morning was picture day so we had to be there even earlier for the 8:00 game.  This is what the fields looked like.  Brrr.

I just happened to catch the sun rising above the playground. 

 

By the second game at 9:30, the grass had thawed and it was not too bad. 

 

This is a short video highlight of Sierra playing like a veteran even though it was only her first game.   What I love most about it is listening to her brother cheer her on. 

Spring Break

We had a wonderful fun day with friends this week in Bloomington. 

 

The best part was spending it with a great friend. 

 

Also on spring break, the kids enjoyed warm weather when they could play outside without coats.  They also enjoyed playing in the snow and building a snowman.  It’s not often you can experience both in late March. 

Gray Hair–Not My Natural Color

 

My Do-It-Yourself Color and Cut. 

Homeschool Moment

The kids and I sat around yesterday, each of us reading a book about presidents and sharing what we were learning.   One of them started talking about heaven and who they want to see when they get there.  It was a thought-provoking conversation.  Then one of them asked me what I wanted to ask God when I got there.  I couldn’t think of anything off the top of my head, but then that one said “I want to ask God who fired the shot heard around the world.”     Deep thinkers.    

Today would have been my husband’s sister’s 65th birthday.  She is one of the people my  kids want to see in heaven.  They also mentioned wanting to see their grandparents who they never met.   

Post Op

Déjà vu.  It seems like only a couple months ago that I was talking about my post-op stuff. 

Mine was way easier than my husband’s.   He even gets the really good narcotic pain meds.  Fortunately, his pain has not been as bad this time as it was last time in 2007 (on the other shoulder).  The doctor was able to do all of it through the scope this time.  With the last one, he had to make a mini-open incision.   He started physical therapy yesterday.  His surgery was the day before that.  They repaired a 3 cm. tear in the rotator cuff and also removed some extra bone he had floating around and a piece of bone that was part of a genetic abnormality (in the meso-acronium). 

This is close to what he is wearing now, except on the opposite arm. 

In addition, he has something similar to this that goes over the shoulder and hooks to three tubes that hook to a machine that looks like a short computer tower.  

 

Water goes through two of the tubes and air goes through the other one.  It keeps the temperature at a constant 45 degrees. 

He is on restrictions for 12 weeks. He cannot use his shoulder muscles at all for the first 4 weeks.

Busy Busy

This month finds me very busy.  So busy that I started this blog post three days ago and keep having to update it because it becomes out-of-date.   I have been doing a lot of reading and researching in order to make some changes to our schooling.  So far what I am doing different is having the desired result but it may be too early to know if it will last.   I am turning up the speed and not relying as much on our curriculum because it just moves too slow in some cases especially in math and English. 

For the second time in less than six years, my husband will be undergoing rotator cuff repair on his shoulder.  This time it is the other shoulder.  I feel the need to say the surgery is on his shoulder because I am weak in anatomy so am not willing to just say rotator cuff repair in case there might happen to be a rotator cuff somewhere else in the human body that I have not heard about.   I am pretty sure there is not but I have been wrong before so I will play it safe. 

We spent part of the weekend rearranging our bedroom so that we can switch sides of the bed and so that the bedroom can look more like a bedroom since we put in a new floor and finally painted.  It’s been a work in progress (or should I say work in waiting) for some time.  We are not very good at finishing projects.   It is amazing how moving a few things around can make a room look bigger. 

Well, we have a sick child at the moment so the doctor’s office was our trip for the day.  Strep was negative and she does not have enough flu symptoms to even test for that so it’s just a yucky virus.  Now I’m beginning to think the headache and stuffy nose I’ve had off and on the past couple of days might be more than sinuses.   I’m hoping no one else gets it, especially the daddy.  The nurse said Sierra looks just like her daddy.  She grew up with him.  She then talked about how sweet his mother was.    Sierra was not paying attention but when I told her later, she was not impressed (about looking just like her daddy, that is). 

Here is the paint color we chose.  Do you see a problem with the tv?  This was my view using the zoom on the camera from my new spot on the bed.  Obviously a problem.  Last night, the tv was moved to the other wall and now I have holes to cover up but that’s ok.  I am behind on picture taking for the blog or I would show the new view.

 

Last week the kids went ice skating with about a hundred other homeschooled kids.   When it was almost over, the youngest stumbled and fell on her knee and elbow.  She did not mention the elbow until on the way home because her knee hurt so much.  By the time we got home, she was in tears about the elbow.  I think we can see why from the picture below which was taken several days later.   Ice hurts. 

Why we don’t eat out much

It is tiring to have to avoid most convenience and fast foods or to have to travel an hour one way to shop where you might find fewer of these ingredients in packaged foods, esp. those in red/yellow.  Those in orange show just how messed up our food supply is due to overuse of corn in our society.  Of course, some of these could be two or three colors.  And this is just based on what I know which is  not enough. 

 

These ingredients are derived from corn or are likely are derived from corn

These ingredients contain or may contain petroleum (TBHQ for sure does)

These ingredients can hide artificial stuff (but not limited to these ingredients)

BK Nuggets: Boneless chicken breast with rib meat, water, isolated oat product, potato starch, seasoning (modified corn starch, salt, maltodextrin, yeast extract, chicken stock, flavors, wheat starch, dextrose, propylene glycol and citric acid), salt, sodium phosphates. BATTERED WITH: Water, yellow corn flour, wheat flour, wheat starch, salt, leavening (sodium bicarbonate, sodium aluminum phosphate, sodium acid pyrophosphate), dextrose, spice. BREADED WITH: Wheat flour, leavening (sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium bicarbonate), spices, salt.  Breading set in vegetable oil.

McDonald’s McNuggets: White boneless chicken, water, food starch-modified, salt, seasoning [yeast extract, salt, wheat starch, natural flavoring (botanical source), safflower oil, dextrose, citric acid], sodium phosphate, natural flavor (botanical source). Battered and breaded with: water, enriched flour (bleached wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), yellow corn flour, bleached wheat flour, food starch-modified, salt, leavening (baking soda, sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium aluminum phosphate, monocalcium phosphate, calcium lactate), spices, wheat starch, dextrose, corn starch. Prepared in vegetable oil (Canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, hydrogenated soybean oil with TBHQ and citric acid added to preserve freshness). Dimethylpolysiloxane added as an antifoaming agent.

                                               /\  (what???) 

 

Click here to read Fooducates post about the new BK nuggets.

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