Growing Loving and Learning

January Spring

2012-01-27T16:51:00.000-05:00

It is almost 50 degrees out today. For a January day in Michigan, I am definitely not complaining! The kids were outside playing while I cleaned up inside and I was just thinking how nice it is to have the kids make a mess outside instead of in. Suddenly, Elijah and Audra ran toward the house with big, proud smiles on their faces. "Momma! We don't have to dig anymore! We taught Clooney how to dig!" The dog, front legs and muzzle covered in black mud, also proud of his accomplishments, ran up to me and jumped on me, leaving a nice wide streak down the leg of my light colored pants.

Directions

2011-10-05T22:57:00.001-04:00

Today I drove out of town and I forgot to print directions to find my way back. I commented to Audra that I wasn't sure if I was going the right way. She started pointing out landmarks and telling me that I was indeed going the right way because she remembered seeing the street lights, certain buildings etc. I was so impressed that she remembered everything and I told her that it was a good thing I had her to tell me where to go. She was so proud and she told me that from now on, as long as I figure out how to get somewhere, she will tell me how to get back. Who needs a GPS?

Today

2011-09-14T17:46:00.003-04:00

Today, after Audra ran down the sidewalk with Dora panties on her head to get Aria from school, we left to get Clooney at the groomer's. On the way back, Audra asked, "Is Clooney circumcised?" I explained that Clooney is neutered and had an operation so he couldn't make puppies, etc. Audra thought for a minute and then said, "Does that mean Clooney can't get married?"

Typing

2011-09-02T12:05:00.003-04:00

I am standing here canning peaches and Audra is here typing letters on my Facebook page. She says, "What does this say? Gobbleygook?" We start sounding out the letters and she says, "I think it is Spanish. I think I was Spanish when I was a baby. That is why I know Spanish so well."

Bedtime

2011-06-14T22:29:00.002-04:00

We have had some major issues with Audra falling asleep at night. We have a bedtime routine. Aria and Elijah go to sleep. Audra sits in our room and reads and talks and sings and does somersaults on the bed and just does NOT sleep. Sometimes I purposely try not giving her a nap, thinking she will sleep at night. But that just makes her really cranky between 4:00-6:00 and then she wakes up.

Tonight I told Audra that if she was going to stay up with us she needed to work because that is what we do after her bedtime. So far she has picked up the basement and the sunroom and thrown the laundry down the shoot. My plan isn't working. I need more for her to do!

My awesome 10 year old

2011-06-09T16:56:00.002-04:00

Aria started public school for the first time in January. Today was her last day for the year. We are VERY proud of her!! Here are a few of her accomplishments…

Aria jumped right into a whole new way of life. She adjusted quickly, made lots of new friends, and her teacher said no one would ever know she hadn’t always been in school.

Aria got up and got ready for school each morning on her own initiative.

Aria completed her schoolwork each night without many reminders.

Aria went on several field trips, including visiting our state capitol and performing in a concert choir.

Aria completed a six week long project on the Saginaw Chippewa Indians. She spent hours researching on the Internet and reading library books. She wrote and typed a report, visited a museum, and interviewed a member of the tribe. She took pictures and made a beautiful display board and she also made samples of traditional Ojibwa food for over 100 people.

Aria ran a 5K with “Girls on the Run” and received the “Ginormous Heart Award” from her group.

Aria worked hard and received straight A’s all semester. She was accepted into the accelerated math program next year.

disobedience

2011-05-05T09:09:00.002-04:00

Audra-

"I didn't do it. I think Elijah did it this morning when he was being disobedient." For the record, she did do it.

"I want to stay home from church and watch Superman with Daddy. I already know everything about God."

Building boy

2011-04-27T10:33:00.001-04:00

Monday, Elijah made a big obstacle course for his new Hex Bug. Yesterday, he built Audra a doll house with skewers and paper. Today, it is raining and he is making gutters for the back porch.

Peas

2011-04-27T00:10:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, Audra, Elijah and I planted peas.

Today, after going outside, Audra said, "Daddy, I don't think it worked."

"What didn't work?"

"The peas. We planted them and it didn't work!"

Audra this morning...

2011-04-23T12:16:00.002-04:00

"A couple means two. What does three mean?"

"I'm sick of Michigan. It is dark and cold here. I want to move back to Bay City."

Dinosaurs

2011-02-24T20:34:00.002-05:00

Today Elijah, Audra, and I went to a dinosaur exhibit at Midland Center for the Arts. We had a guided tour and Audra was pretty bored through most of it. When we got home, Dan asked Audra what she learned. "I learned about dinosaur features," she said. Then, "What are dinosaur features Daddy?"

The Storm

2011-02-01T19:07:00.002-05:00

Well, we're all sitting here waiting for the blizzard to hit. It might be the worst one since I was a few months old. Elijah keeps looking out the window. "It's not here yet! Why isn't it here yet! I don't think it's coming!" I keep reassuring him!

It's 7pm and they already closed Delta. We're waiting on Midland schools, but I highly doubt Aria will have school. Yes! Aria started school last week. I guess I need to blog about that too!

We have lots of food, but we don't have a snowblower or a generator. We found out after we moved here that they city will not plow our road. It was hard to get through the snow on it this morning and they are predicting up 15 inches more. Our snowblower is in the shop! Dan is considering just going out and buying a generator. He is out getting gas right now. I've heard the shelves at the grocery stores are pretty bare. So, that's the news so far...

Audra's story

2011-01-23T21:51:00.003-05:00

"Once upon a time there was a lovely girl named Bell. She was walking around. She loved to walk around. But she found a college. Not Delta college, but a different college. Then she found a magic thing (a USB drive). What is a magic USB drive? And she used it to turn Daddy into a friendly pig. And it turned the stepmother into a nice moose. Then a tiger came and got the nice moose and attacked her with its sharp claws. The moose could do better than the tiger because of her hard hooves. Bell went back home to her college. The college doesn’t have a name. It is just called college. She didn’t know where her room was. She went upstairs to find her room and there were some little guys there. She crushed them because she was bigger than them."

Me-"Goodness, that’s scary! Was there anything happy that happened?"

"Ummmm. I’m not sure. Can’t you just make it up yourself?

She dressed in blue and white and she danced and danced and danced and danced and lived happily ever after."

Seriously....

2011-01-22T16:41:00.005-05:00

Google "Miranda Kerr" and look at the images. Or you can look here. Note that no one has any problem with those.

Now look at the picture here. Note that people are in an uproar about this.

I guess I don't need to say more.

The power of negotiation

2011-01-16T20:32:00.004-05:00

Audra-"Mommy, will you pay me twenty dollars and twenty five cents if I take care of the newspaper?"
Me-"That's a lot of money."
Audra-"Well, how much will you give me?"
Me-"A penny."
Audra-"How about a quarter and a penny?"
Me-"How about two pennies?"
Audra-"How about I put the shoes away too and you give me three pennies?"
Me-"Okay. Sounds good."

Audra does her work and I pay her the pennies. But she is upset that she didn't get a shiny penny. I told her I don't have any shiny pennies, so she has been in the bathroom for the last five minutes trying to make her pennies shiny!

"It's not working Momma! Maybe I need soap!"

I think in a few minutes I'll give her some vinegar and turn into a science experiment.

Sleepover

2011-01-01T21:33:00.003-05:00

Elijah is starting out the new year by having his first sleepover away from home. Elijah met Jackson this summer. He lives right down the road from us and they have pretty much been inseparable ever since. Whenever Jackson is sick or out of town, Elijah can hardly stand it. Today the boys made little cards for each other. Elijah told me it is so they can have something to remember each other by when they go on trips. They hug each other and hold hands. They also beat each other up, have sword fights, do Karate, and break things. They both love Legos, Star Wars, Nerf guns, and the Wii. Elijah and Jackson both come from houses full of sisters. I think it is one reason they are so similar.

rant

2010-12-29T21:34:00.003-05:00

I love being a LLL leader. I really do. I could write a book about why I feel breastfeeding is so important and how I think it is so sad that women don't get more support and education so that they can not only breastfed their babies, but enjoy doing it. Sometimes LLL can be really rewarding and other times it leaves me wanting to scream and hunt down some medical professional and tell them where to go. How can doctors give advice about something that they know nothing about? How can they give advice based on some myth they have heard or based on their wife or cousin's experience? Doctors are supposed to give evidence based information. Where is the evidence? Where are the studies? Can you show me where the information is located in your medical textbooks?

I can spend hours on the phone with a mom. I can talk to her every day for a week or more. I can spend hours looking up information and connecting her to difference resources. I might add that I do all of this for free. I gladly give my time to empower mothers to do something that I so strongly believe. But all it takes is one doctor and 15 minutes. One doctor, paid $100 or more who doesn't know a darn thing about breastfeeding. One doctor to destroy a perfectly good breastfeeding relationship and discount all the information I have given a mother. Doctors always know best, don't they?

Doctors do save lives and there have been plenty of times I have been very thankful for doctors. I do wish that people would realize that doctors are humans. They make mistakes and they don't know everything. Please ask questions, do your own research and be proactive with you and your loved ones' medical care.

Bath

2010-12-21T18:17:00.003-05:00

Audra calling from the bathtub-"Daddy! I have to go potty! I drank up all the bath water. I'm dissolllllving!"

Dentist

2010-11-30T23:28:00.002-05:00

Today I took all three kids to the dentist. It was Audra's first time and it took all sorts of coaxing to get her to open her mouth. She sat in the chair with her hand over her mouth and refused to cooperate. Aria and Elijah and I all were in the room and tried to convince her to open. Aria was promising her suckers and toys and on and on. Finally, a light went on and I told Audra that if something hurt, we would stop and she could climb out of the chair. After that, she was fine and sat there with her mouth open wide and/or chattering away!

Elijah has a lot of cavities. Aria has two more starting. It is really frustrating. I've tried so many things and I feel so helpless about what to do about it.

Problems with my kids' teeth seem so minor though. This week all of my family's "issues" seem minor. Every time I get online, I hear about another friend or acquaintance who is going through a major trial. I've been praying for a lot of people and my mind hasn't had much rest. Sometimes it scares me that God allows such horrible things to happen to good people, even people who love and follow the Lord. I feel like reminding God that my tolerance is really low, so that he won't allow us to go through anything like this. ;) Many of my struggling friends are still trusting God through their pain, and are still able to look at the blessings in their lives. It makes me remember the blessings in my life and to remember to not stress about my little "bumps in the road."

Books

2010-11-26T23:46:00.002-05:00

Tonight I was reading Audra a book. She said she wanted to "read it like a chapter book" and she opened it up to the middle of book and told me to start there. Then when we finished the book, she wanted to read it "like a real book" and we had to go back to the beginning and start again.

I'm terrible about blogging lately but today Dan stood in line at 3am to get me a new laptop, so I guess I don't have as much of an excuse now. Facebook seems so much easier, but my status updates aren't really anything I can keep. I like to think that someday when the kids are older, they will be able to read this blog. It is already fun to go back and read things and look at the pictures. Audra loves to watch the videos of when she was a baby.

We put up the Christmas tree today. Dan got it for $20 at Kmart at 5am. It looks great in the dark. lol! We all have sorts of nice decorations since we were married the week before Christmas. It is a lot of fun to go through them and I remember who gave us almost every single one of them. Last year, I think the kids broke three of the ornaments. This year we only broke one so far. My Christmas shopping is almost finished. We also got a new camera. Well, it hasn't come yet, but we used all our birthday money and Christmas money and then some to buy the laptop and camera. So, Dan and I aren't buying each other anything and are going to scale back on any other purchases for quite awhile! I have an Amazon credit card that I use for everything so twice a year I get Amazon gift certificates to buy Christmas gifts and books for school. I'm waiting for those to come in the mail to buy some things for the kids on my "wish list" and then I'll be finished. Maybe this year I won't completely be stressed the days before Christmas. Maybe...

Halloween

2010-08-19T22:26:00.002-04:00

Yes, I know it is August, but the Halloween magazines are already starting to come. Audra was looking at one today. She said to Dan, while pointing to some pictures, "Look. You can be the king. Momma can be the queen. Aria can be the princess. I can be the other princess. And Elijah can be the little servant."

Neighbors

2010-06-11T22:17:00.004-04:00

This week, our neighborhood had a block party. We met most of the people who live around us and Aria and Elijah met a lot of kids. One family has a girl exactly Aria's age and a boy Elijah's age. They are really nice kids and the girl, Riley, has been over to our house almost every day this week.

This morning we went and picked strawberries. We picked #44. The picking was really good, but I was extremely annoyed that they had a big sign that said not to eat any that you haven't paid for! It was NOT much fun for the kids. Usually, the farm owners tell my kids to eat until they bellies are full. It is just kind of part of the deal when you pick berries. I've been to lots of berry places and have never seen a place with this rule. Anyway, when we got home Riley and her brother came over. Riley was eating strawberries the whole time she was here. When we told her it was time to go home, she ran back into the house for a minute. We decided to walk her home to meet her parents and when we got there, she started pulling strawberries out of her pocket to eat. The pockets in her white skirt were stuffed with strawberries. I guess she wanted some for the road. lol!

Super Girl

2010-06-07T22:44:00.003-04:00

Even if you didn't know Audra has a brother, it wouldn't take you long to figure it out. A few days ago, Audra was shooting at the trees as we were driving by in the car. She loves to wear her pink flowered baby blanket around her neck and fly through the house. Today she told me that when she gets older, she will be a bigger Super Girl and then she can fly. Tonight Aria said, "Audra, get out of my room!"
"I'm not Audra, I'm Suuuuper Girl!!!"
"Okay, Super Girl, get out of my room!"
Audra said, "Okay," and held on to the sides of her cape as she flew out of the room. Then she went and got the keys out of my purse. Apparently, if she pushes the button on my remote, it gets rid of the bad guys. Hopefully Super Girl can fly us where we need to go when I can't find my keys!

Some random things

2010-05-25T22:44:00.007-04:00

I've been so busy and haven't blogged in so long. There are a hundred things I would love to catch up on-birthdays, field trips, school, emergency room visits-all the fun and not so fun stuff. But since I will never get to it all, I'll just start somewhere with some random things!

We love our house. Our yard is just awesome. We have tons of flowers coming up everywhere. Elijah is building a tree house. We've had a couple campfires and have friends over all the time. Clooney finds all sorts of gross things to roll in. ;) We are close to church and most of our activities. We have lots of space and even some empty drawers and cupboards! Our neighbors are nice. It is like a dream!

The best part is that everyone has been healthy since we moved in. Elijah is off of all breathing treatments. He didn't even need any meds this spring! As far as respiratory stuff, no one had has more than a runny nose for a day since December. We have had a few stomach bugs and Aria had a terrible migraine that resulted from one of them. We ended up in the ER with her. They didn't believe me that it was a migraine and insisted on a CT scan with an enema, blood, work, and a urine test. $5000 later they gave us medication for migraines. I am still so angry that I didn't stick to my guns and tell them she was not going to have a CT scan. I was 99% sure she didn't need it and even our pediatrician gave a few indications that it was done unnecessarily. I just always feel so helpless and vulnerable when my kids are suffering. Anyway, the medication worked and Aria has been fine since-without medication.

I'm pretty sure Audra broke her foot last week. She was playing with Elijah in the front yard and he fell on her. Elijah's knee landed on Audra's foot. We have an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon this Friday. Audra has been walking on the side of her foot, turning it in, and she can't run. It's crazy because she is exactly the same age, minus a couple months that Elijah was when he broke his foot. And it is even the same foot!

I got a new bike a couple weeks ago. It is a $600 bike that I got for $200 on Craig's list and it is awesome! Aria and I have been having a great time riding. We can easily ride bikes to almost everywhere we need to go in Midland. Elijah is almost through with his training wheels, but he still isn't totally confident. I can pull him in the trailer with Audra, but it is a LOT of work! I think another day or two of practicing and Elijah will be able to ride himself.

Elijah is in Little League this year. Dan works late so I take him to his practices and games. He usually has three a week and boy are we busy! Tonight Dan came home early because I had a LLL meeting. He met me at the school nearby where Elijah was in Little League practice and I left him there with the kids. When Elijah was finished, Aria rode her bike one way around the block toward home and Dan walked with Audra and Elijah the other way around the block. Apparently Aria was riding fast and crazy through some gravel and she fell off her bike. She got hurt really bad. Dan said her knee looks like "hamburger" and she hurt her hands and wrist too. There was blood everywhere. Somehow, Aria got home, but Dan wasn't here yet. Aria went to the neighbors and asked for help. They are an older couple without kids. We don't know them well, but they cleaned her up and brought her home.

I'm proud of how Aria handled everything! I feel so bad for her! Just hearing about the whole thing and writing about it makes me sick to my stomach! I HATE not being there for my kids when they need me, but I'm glad that Aria was able to find help.

What else...

Aria turned nine in March. We had a girls-only (plus Elijah) party at our house with a bunch of her friends. We played lots of games and had tacos and cake and ice cream. Everyone had a lot of fun! It was a lot of work too. I'm not quite ready to do that again! Although I can't wait until we can have a house warming party here this summer. We are waiting to see what is going to happen with our other house. We wanted to sell it first. We finally have another offer (the first people backed out) and the mortgage company came back today and said they would only consider accepting it if the buyer comes up with $3500 more. If this offer doesn't go through, we will do a deed in lieu of foreclosure. I still hate even thinking about that and I can't believe it has come to this. I think (and hope) that people who know the story about that house know we did everything we could to try and fix it and that we didn't take the decision to leave lightly. It was the hardest decision we have ever made. We have never even paid a bill late. We have excellent credit. We budget. I feel like we do pretty well with money. Regardless of what happens and how it affects our credit, this is going to affect us the rest of our lives. We have lost thousands of dollars and we spent five years living in a house that caused our children to have health issues.

I try to think of the good memories in that home. Audra was born there. We had a nice yard. We got Clooney. It was the only house that Elijah remembered. Still, it is hard not to regret buying it and wishing again and again that we would have made different choices. I was so terrified to buy this house. Actually, the whole moving thing stressed me out so much that I literally lost half my hair from the stress! But more and more, I know we made the right choice. Things have gone so smoothly here. We haven't had any huge surprises and even though I still hesitate to say it a little (since we still have the other house)-it just feels right. Despite all the chaos of moving and buying another house, there were so many things that just worked out. Looking back, I really feel like God led us here and helped us through the whole process. One of the most awesome things is that a couple days after we had a purchase agreement on this house, legislation was passed that gave us a $6500 tax credit if we had owned our first house for 5 years and had a purchase agreement after a certain date. We "just happened" to already have our closing scheduled for 5 years and 3 days after we bought our other house! Without that money, we would be thousands of dollars in credit card debt right now. God knew just what we needed. ;)

I'm cute and pretty darn smart too...

2010-04-07T22:21:00.005-04:00

Audra is "helping" Dan give Clooney a bath. I said, "Audra, you're a good helper."
Audra said, "Daddy, Momma said I'm a good helper."
Dan... "Oh."
Audra... "Yeah, and I'm cute too."

Dan's Facebook status yesterday...

Me... "Audra, ripping books is naughty. You should not rip books. Books are for reading, not ripping."
Audra..."But I'm two and a half, though." Yes she definitely is.

And Dan's status the day before...

Utter amazement last night at the 2.5 year old who wrote her name uncoached and fine. She has been able to spell everyone's name-verbally and finger spelling for a while.

Sick Day- No School

2010-02-25T22:52:00.003-05:00

We didn't do school today. I'm sure that is what Aria and Elijah would tell you.

Here's a list of the learning that took place- but we didn't do school.

Aria illustrated her original poems in rhyming couplets.
Aria researched 3 Canadian Provinces on the web
While researching provinces, Aria read a whole bunch of info about St. Patrick's Day, which lead to info about Ireland, which somehow lead to info about Italy.
We read some folktales passed down from African slaves and discussed oral history and slavery in general.
Both children practiced/demonstrated individual responsibility by completing their chores and getting dressed before the deadline.
Aria and Elijah both read for a couple hours.
Aria and Elijah worked together to accomplish a new level in the Indiana Jones Lego game on the Wii.
Elijah took a quiz Aria found about Shamrocks and Ireland. It was a reading comprehension quiz and he did great!
Elijah and I used the Scrabble card game to practice reading 2 and 3 letter words. He did very well. Cat, fat, sat, mat, man, fan, Dan, dad, mad, sad,etc. At the end, he was making his own words while I was messing with something in the kitchen. He's ready for the Bob Books.
Aria and I played the Scrabble card game. We verified that we had the same number of cards laid out on the table in a different pattern (hers- 8 by 4 +1, mine- 5 by 5) by counting the number across and the number down and multiplying. In the end, it came down to a draw. We both had one card left that we couldn't use.
The four of us played the animal yatzi game. Elijah won. Aria added her own score in her head.
Elijah and I played 4 in a row. Elijah helped Audra do a couple puzzles.
All three kids watched videos on the web. They watched PBS kids. The half hour of Electric Co was all about the -er, ar, ir, or, ur construction.
Aria followed verbal instructions to complete the assembly and maintainance of the Chicken Soup. She was very proud.
Aria showed compassion for Leah by offering her favorite blanket from her own bed and then by lying in bed with Leah reading and just being there.
Practiced fine motor dexterity and hand eye coordination with the Wii.

BUT WE DIDN'T DO SCHOOL TODAY! How could we say we homeschool? Those kids are not getting six hours of organized instruction! ;)

Audra's Clean, Cute Brain

2010-02-25T22:38:00.003-05:00

Audra: "I gave Clooney a hug, so now he has a hug." Leah: "Where did you hug him?" Audra: "By his brain."

Dan during her bath: "Ok, let's get your head rinsed." Audra: "Don't forget to do my brain good."

Thirty minutes in the life of Audra

2010-02-03T18:51:00.009-05:00

I wrote this last week but never published it. Today, however, caused me to remember it. Audra and her two year old friend fed Clooney and my mom's dog a bag of dog vitamins and a bag of treats. I called the vet and was told to watch the dogs for dehydration in case the puking and vomiting gets too bad...

Lately, Audra has been very, very busy. I thought maybe as she got older, things would be a little easier. She can entertain her self a little more and I don't have to worry as much about her putting little toys in her mouth. But still, I could follow her around all day cleaning up her messes and not stay on top of her busyness. I often have her help me pick up, but she isn't very fond of it. Thankfully, Aria, Elijah and I are "usually" pretty good at finding the humor in her activities. I am also certain that this is why God made toddlers so cute!

The last few weeks, I've been thinking about tracking Audra for a day and writing down all of her activities. If I tracked an entire day, though, I would be writing a novel, so I just chose the thirty minutes today that I was sitting at the kitchen table with Elijah (attempting) to teach him to count money.

Audra started by playing with the Wedgits I got out for her and threw at least 40 of them all over the dining room floor. When she was through with that, she climbed to the middle of the kitchen table (her favorite place in the house) and sat down. Next she...

-dumped a glass of water into the math supply basket.

-threw her orange juice glass on the floor. It was almost empty, so she didn't need it anymore.

-drew all over Aria's English book. When I took the book away and gave her a coloring book, she proceeded to draw all over her stuffed Elmo.

-dumped at least 100 coins on the floor, two or three at a time. This actually kept her busy for several minutes.

-took all the money and cards out of my wallet. Then she got down on the floor and slid them all over with her feet to make sure they were dispersed properly.

At this point, Audra decided to move from the table into the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator and sucked on the lemon juice bottle. This is a regular occurrence, so we have designated the lemon juice bottle solely to Audra. After she was through with the lemon juice bottle, she took off with the cottage cheese container to go hide in the closet. The closet is her favorite place when she is in trouble or has something she shouldn't.

Next Daddy came home! Waiting for him to come inside coaxed her out of the closet. After Daddy came inside, she...

-found an empty (thankfully) orange juice bottle and shook it to see if there was anything left in it. Then sucked on the lid and tried to put it on the container.

-got the mustard bottle left on the counter and sucked on it. Next time we serve guests dinner, I'll be sure to offer them some mustard. ;-)

-took four water cups out of the cupboard. Then she went over to the water filter, filled each cup with water, put each one on the floor and took a drink from each one.

I swear, I do give her food and drink throughout the day! Thankfully, after this it was time to leave with Daddy!

Other random activities today...

Audra painted her face and arms with watercolor paints.

Audra went into each bathroom at least three times and tore the toilet paper into little tiny pieces. This is another of her favorite activities and she feels the need to do it each time she enters the bathroom. She also enjoys unrolling the entire roll of toilet paper. Thankfully, she hasn't thought yet to throw it all into the toilet.

Audra looked at her books one at a time and threw them all on the floor.

Audra cooked us food in her kitchen, dragged her stuffed animals throughout the house, and played with various toys in the basement.

Audra helped me fold laundry by taking it out of the basket after I folded it, sometimes running off with it.

Audra spilled her entire breakfast smoothie all over her leg, foot, and the floor, giggling with delight when the dog started stepping in it and licking it up.

Audra picked out her own clothes, which included two pair of Baby Legs, three pair of socks, two shirts, a dress, and shoes that are too big. She did a good job getting her first pair of socks on and she managed to get the underpants I gave her on the right way, even if they were inside out. Audra loves to pick out her own clothes and get herself dressed. If we are going somewhere, getting dressed has become a big compromise lately.

Other news from today...

Audra found a live lady bug in her toys today and was just ecstatic!!! She watched him crawl all around and held him. She kept talking to him. "Awwww! Hi! How are you? C'mere little guy..." And then she would say, "He's talking to me!!!" I asked her what he was saying and she said he was saying hi. She made a home for him. We fed him some lettuce. This actually kept her out of trouble for quite awhile. Then the lady bug got out of her container somehow and she was VERY upset! She looked all around the house for ladybugs the rest of the day. She found two inside the windows that were all dried up and dead. She was convinced that if she kept watching them long enough, they would wake up. But, it never happened.

I felt bad for her and decided that she needs a pet. We have been thinking about getting hermit crabs and Audra still has Christmas money. I mentioned to her that maybe we could get one "sometime." She was SO excited, she couldn't stop talking about it! She decided to name him Hermie and kept asking again and again when we could go get one. I talked to Dan and he said he could take her tonight while the older kids are at church. For the rest of the day, every time Audra heard a noise, she was sure Dan was home to take her. At one point, when Aria was done with her math, I said, "You're good to go." Audra said, "Go!! Is it time to go?!!!" I'm sure you'll hear more about our new family members later.

Pouty face after she lost the ladybug.

Trouble

2009-12-22T15:45:00.000-05:00

I just played Trouble with Elijah and he got a ton of great rolls and beat me. I kept telling him he is lucky and he said, "I know! I'm SO good at this game that when I played it by myself, I beat myself!!!"

House

2009-12-14T15:07:00.002-05:00

The other day Elijah told a friend that we have the "best house in the world!" Just now, I was sitting here listening to a conversation between Aria and Elijah and Elijah said, "Do you know that there are houses bigger than this?" Aria said, "Yeah, they are called hotels!"

I think we all like our house. :)

We're moved!

2009-12-02T01:39:00.003-05:00

It was quite the process, but we made it and we are in our new house. It's only been 4 days, but I have most of the boxes unpacked. Dan has some clothes to unpack still and the kitchen needs some work. We have less cupboard space in the kitchen than our old house, so we are trying to figure out where to put things. The office/den is still full of boxes. I ran out of time to go through all my papers, so I just threw it into boxes. I'm not looking forward to that, but unpacking has been WAY easier than packing!

I am SO thankful for everyone who helped us move! I can't even imagine doing it without all the help we had! Thursday and Friday, the two days before we moved, Aria and I both had bad colds and I just felt miserable. Friday, my friend Marian and her husband and daughter came over to help us. I told her we were sick, but she wasn't concerned. Marian came over and watched all the kids while I packed. She filled half our front porch with toys from her house for the kids to play with and her husband helped Dan get things ready in the garage. She also brought us a bunch of food! I don't think we would have made it without her help! We also had so many people help us on moving day. Our house was packed with friends and family carrying and packing things. I still feel so blessed to have so many people willing to help!

We love our house. We have so much space. I look around and wonder how on earth we ever fit all this into our other house. Counting the basement, we have at least 900 more square feet! Aria and Elijah love their bedrooms. I still can't believe that we are finally out of our other house! It hasn't totally sunk in yet. Saturday morning I came early to clean before everyone starting bringing stuff over. The house was practically spotless. I almost started crying. It has all just been SUCH a different experience from our other house. I still feel like I am holding my breathe waiting for everything to break. There have been a few surprises, but nothing major. One thing we need to do quickly is put rails on the staircases and also install some kind of runner on the stairs. The stairs are solid oak and are very slippery. Audra and Aria have both fallen on them a few times. Audra split her lip open twice. I got a bunch of tacky shelf liner last night and put it on. It works pretty well, but is definitely not anything permanent.

We met with a Realtor today to discuss selling our other house. She is going to get back to us with comps this week and tell us what she thinks is fair price to list the house. We aren't positive we will hire her, but we needed a different perspective than the other Realtor we had a few months back. We still have a ton of work to do on the old house. Dan and I are both pretty stressed about it. We are going to try and have it done in the next two weeks. The sooner we can list it, the better.

I think that just today Audra is starting to get used to our new house. The first couple days we were here, she kept saying she wanted to go "home." The first day, Carol told her that this is our home and she said, "No, this is our new house!" Audra wasn't sleeping very well at all and was getting really upset when she couldn't find me. She hasn't been coming to find me when she wants me. She stays where she is and yells, "Momma! I neeeed you!!!" Today though, Audra took a long nap and she was getting into things like crazy. The kids have especially had a great time with the laundry shoot. It is in the bathroom and when I was in the shower today, Audra put my clean clothes down it. She also pulled all the neatly folded towels out of the cupboard, dragged some of the washcloths into the living room, and climbed onto the toilet so she could get into the bandaids. I was only in the shower for ten minutes at the most!

We are taking the week off school, but next Monday we will be back full speed ahead. I don't think we'll even take much time off over Christmas break. We have a lot of catching up to do. Aria and Elijah have already been complaining about chores and having trouble getting into new routines. Next week should be interesting!

Clooney has had some adjusting too! He was having a hard time on the stairs at first and he fell off the front porch a few times. Poor guy! He figured it all out pretty quickly and has been out exploring the woods a little. I don't think he has been feeling that great though. He had an upset tummy again the other day and kept shaking, like he was cold. Today he seemed better, but I noticed he had a runny nose tonight. I'm debating taking him to the vet. He is eating, but I know something is wrong and I just can't pinpoint it. Clooney has been battling fleas and his skin is still pretty irritated. Dan says I need a "How to Raise a Healthy Dog" book to look things up in.

Six days to moving

2009-11-22T17:12:00.007-05:00

Elijah and I were talking about moving tonight. I told him that Audra is not going to remember this house. Elijah was just over one year old when we moved here. I said, "Audra won't remember this house, just like you don't remember our old house." Elijah asked how old he was when we moved here. I told him. He thought for a minute and then said, "Well, how old was Audra?" He said he remembers when I was pregnant, but he doesn't remember not having Audra.

We talked about having Audra for a minute and then Elijah said, "Do people start to get little when they are older?" I just LOVE his questions!

Of course, we have been talking to the kids as much as we can about moving. Audra keeps asking, " Are we going to the new house now?" We talk to her about how we are all her toys and all her clothes, etc. One night after we were discussing this, she starting thinking of all the things we could take with us. "And we can take my books, and my Elmo, and my mousey 'jamas, and my house, and my games, and my puzzles, and Clooney..." She went on and on! She definitely has at least a little understanding of what is going on!

Six days until we move. We close on the house this Wednesday the 25th and then we move on Saturday, just an hour or so before the sellers move out. It is a tight fit, and it isn't going to give me much cleaning time (if any) at the new house, but it was the best we could do. I have about 60-75% of the inside of the house packed. There are boxes everywhere. Today I packed about 7 huge Rubbermaid containers of outgrown clothes and other stuff we don't need to take to Goodwill tomorrow. I kept it all because I wanted to have a garage sale, but with two house payments, we should be able to at least write it off this year! I am happy to donate it to someone who needs it too.

I had a cold last week and now Audra has a cold too. She is not very happy. Elijah has been having asthma again and Aria has her first migraine headache last night. Poor Aria. When we took her to U of M a couple years ago because she had all the unexplained vomiting, she was diagnosed with abdominal migraines. Apparently they run in families (I had terrible migraine headaches in college and still get them a couple times a year). When children have them, they are characterized by severe vomiting. Around the age of eight, they turn into headaches more than stomach pain. So, Aria is right on cue. :(

We have noticed that some foods trigger her and also that stress plays a HUGE role. Aria had two really busy days. She had her last day of school at Delta co-op for the semester. She had to give several presentations and there was a contest for a story she wrote. She was really nervous about that. Then the next day, she got up early and went to a party with my mom. Aria even told me that she was nervous about it all and that she couldn't sleep. That is a really big step for her because she doesn't often tell me about her feelings. We prayed together, did a relaxation exercise, and then she fell asleep cuddled up next to me. <3 <3 She isn't a cuddlier either, so I really cherished the moment! Of course, moving hasn't help any of our stress levels either. It will be awhile before we are in a new routine. I REALLY hope everyone is healthy when we move!

Aria really enjoyed her classes at Delta this semester. She took a sport stacking class, an art class, a geography class, where she learned all about the United States, and a grammar and writing class. As much as Dan and I ask questions about Aria's classes, she doesn't tell us much. But Aria told Dan the other day that her writing and grammar teacher called her "the human encyclopedia," because she knows the definitions of all the parts of speech word for word. I'm not sure if Aria realized that this was a compliment at first, but Dan and I thought it was pretty cute! I knew that Aria didn't need much help with grammar when I enrolled her in the class, but she really balks at ever having a write anything. She really enjoyed the class and she wrote a great story! It continues next semester and the children study poetry.

Elijah took a class on Michigan, a literature class, a gym class, and a sign language class. I was amazed at everything he picked up in his classes too. Sign language was a lot of fun and he learned a lot!! Audra and I sat in on most of his classes and Audra picked up a lot of the signing also. It was almost a three for one deal. ;) I am hoping we can continue with the sign language class next semester, but they are hard to get into.

I wrote in my last post, that we may not have Internet. Well, I decided I can't live without it. lol! I order most of our food online from our co-ops. I talk to my friends and family. We use it for school almost every day. I use it for La Leche League. My calendar and "to do" list are all online. I pay bills online. Dan and I communicate a lot through the Internet. And of course, I try to blog, which is really the only place I record our memories! I seriously think I could live without a phone for awhile, but not Internet! So, you might still see me around. ;)

Cuteness

2009-11-10T13:05:00.002-05:00

Poor dog...

2009-11-06T15:10:00.003-05:00

I just get a kick out of Audra lately and how she talks to Clooney all the time. Today we got home from our Delta co-op and Clooney was in his cage barking since he heard us. Audra went right up to the cage and squatted down to talk to Clooney. "Awwww, poor dog. Poor dog. Want to read a book? Will that make it better? Awwwww." Then when I let Clooney out of his cage, Audra said, "So cited [excited]! So cited!" Clooney doesn't ever listen to what Audra says and he doesn't know it, but Audra is definitely his best friend!

Better times...

2009-11-05T12:37:00.002-05:00

My mom doesn't want me to write anything negative, ha ha, so, I figured I better update the blog. Things are going a lot better so far this month. Audra is off of breathing treatments and Elijah and Aria are much better. Aria still has a bit of a cough, but we are planning on finally going to our co-op at Delta tomorrow.

And the really big news is that we bought a house!!!! I have to say that I am scared out of my mind and keep thinking maybe I am completely out of my mind, but we did it, and I just have to believe that it is the right decision. Especially after this month's medical bills, it is going to stretch our finances like they have never been stretched, but somehow God is going to work this out. I think that this is probably one of the biggest risks I have taken in my life. Life is full of risks though and after having three kids with pneumonia last month, I feel even more sure that we need to leave this house and provide a healthy environment for our children.

Not only will we live in a mold-free house with a dry foundation, but we won't have to all share a bedroom!! Aria and Elijah can have their own rooms and a big basement to play in with their toys. We can do schoolwork in the sunroom and I will have an office that we might some day use for a 4th bedroom! We will be right in town next to all our activities and friends and not too far from Delta! We'll be able to heat with forced air and not space heaters! We have a big yard full of mature trees and lots of plants and gardens! We have privacy and an awesome fire pit! We can have friends over and not worry about our house smelling or where people will fit! We have tons of dry storage space and a heated, insulated garage for Elijah and Dan to work on projects! We won't have to worry ever about Audra or Clooney running into the road! And I am just praying that we won't be pouring money again and again into a house that is never fixed. We had a great, very thorough inspection. It was nothing like the inspection we had with this house. And Dan also talked extensively to the owner and we will be getting to know them even better. There is some work that needs to be done, but most of it is not immediate.

We will have such a long way to go in selling this house and a lot of work to do on it before we do. Honestly, I am completely overwhelmed when I even think about everything we have to do. We are already a month behind in school due to illness. But, I guess we'll just take a few more weeks off and plan on doing a lot of school over Christmas and way into June and maybe July.

Anyway, we are closing on the house on November 27th, the day after Thanksgiving. Strangely enough, that is actually exactly five years after we closed on this house. The plan is to close and the same day I will go to the house and clean and get stuff ready. Then Saturday, we will have a big moving day and have people help load the truck. In the meantime, I have to get the whole house packed. We aren't going to have a land line or internet for a few months while we try to save money, so this is probably my last update in awhile!

Halloween

2009-10-31T20:10:00.004-04:00

I have to say that October 2009 is going on my list of one of the crappiest months I've ever had in my life and I'm glad that it is almost over! Long story short, I've been sick for about six weeks. Two weeks ago, I got sicker than I ever remember. I had a fever, two ears aches, a terrible sore throat and was vomiting and dehydrated. Then it hurt like crazy to breathe and I couldn't stop coughing. Dan couldn't take work off, so I waited and waited to go to the doctor. Finally, I got in and was diagnosed with the flu, double ear infections, and pneumonia. I got on antibiotics for the first time in over ten years. Two days later when I was just starting to feel a little better, Elijah got really sick and I spent the entire day at the ER with him. He also was diagnosed with pneumonia. They wanted to admit him, but I fought to bring him home. Elijah got better fairly quickly, but eventually Aria and Audra were also sick. I finally got them into the pediatrician and she diagnosed all three kids with H1N1 and pneumonia.

Everyone pretty much followed the same pattern. We have high fevers and sore throats for a couple days, upset stomachs, and then it turned into an awful cough and pneumonia. Dan went out of town for work on Wednesday, when all the kids were sick. Thursday I took them all to the doctor and they were diagnosed. I didn't have any help because no one wanted to catch the flu. So, for 4 nights I was up with three sick kids and my life became organized around breathing treatments, antibiotics, and steroids for all three kids.

Dan got sick also, but so far, not as much as the rest of us. He just got home yesterday, right about the time the kids started feeling better. Aria is still struggling with an awful cough. We're giving her breathing treatments every 4 hours, but Audra and Elijah are at least sleeping at night and not coughing much. I have only gotten one fairly good night of sleep now, but I am still struggling with my own health. My ears are still plugged up and they ring like crazy whenever I am somewhere quiet. It makes me really dizzy too. I probably need to go to an ENT, but it is kind of at the end of my list right now. This coming Monday all three kids were supposed to go to the allergist in Ann Arbor. It takes about a year to get an appointment there, so it isn't like we can easily reschedule. Elijah really needs to go and since he is the healthiest, I am going to take him. I canceled the girls' appointments. Poor Elijah has to go through allergy tests now after everything he went through at the emergency room! He had to have an IV and they couldn't find his vein. It was awful! He did get a teddy bear and get to watch all the cable TV he wanted though. When we got home, he said, "Momma, if we go to the hospital again, it's okay. I just don't want a shot this time."

I think it is going to be quite some time before we all totally recover, and Aria still isn't out of the woods, but we tried to make the best of Halloween today. The plan was for everyone to dress up as the characters of Narnia. Aria dressed up as Lucy, Audra was Aslan (the lion) and Elijah was going to be Peter. But much to Aria's dismay, Elijah decided to be Darth Vader at the last minute. We missed all the Halloween events this year, but the kids did manage to get dressed up for ten minutes, take a picture, and Trick Or Treat at the neighbors' houses. We planned on passing out quarters if children came to our door, but we only had one set of kids come this year. We also watched a movie and I made almond flour brownies with honey. Tonight the sugar fairy will come, take the kids candy, and leave them gifts.

Growing up

2009-10-26T12:26:00.002-04:00

Audra went potty and put her own underpants back on this morning (backwards). I mentioned that she is big for doing it all by herself and she said, "I know. I'm giant. I'm not little anymore!"

Birthdays

2009-08-30T01:16:00.001-04:00

A few days ago, Elijah told someone that he had recently turned six. They asked him what he did for his birthday and neither of us could remember! Aria of course did, but I know one reason I didn't is that I never blogged about it! Elijah and Audra's birthday was in the midst of a whirl of activities this year. We went to Ann Arbor for my postpartum doula training for 3 nights, then we were home for one night and left to go up north to my parents cabin. We got home on Thursday, celebrating their birthday on Friday, and then had the annual Lake family reunion the next day. Busy!

We spent most of the day at Sanford Beach on "birthday day" and then came home with my mom and grandma and had dinner and cake. I made chocolate cake with coconut flour and it turned out really good! Elijah's gift was a Snap Circuit set. He really likes it. The first time he tried it, he got all frustrated and started to cry, but it only took going through it with Daddy twice for him to be on his own with it. He had made all sorts of flying, moving, lighting up things now!

Audra got a kitchen set that she also just loves. I bought it last Christmas because I got a really great deal on it and had to keep it all this time. I couldn't wait to give it to her. Dan and I had some trouble putting it together because it was stored in a box in our damp house and it warped the wood. But, it is together now, and it is really beautiful. Audra loves to make us kombucha and eggs and bacon!

Birthday Beach

2009-08-30T00:30:00.000-04:00

Audra and the penguins

2009-08-29T01:22:00.004-04:00

September 2008, May 2009, August 2009

More zoo pictures...

2009-08-29T00:43:00.006-04:00

Saginaw Zoo with Friends

2009-08-29T00:38:00.002-04:00

The Saginaw Zoo-pine cones

2009-08-29T00:36:00.002-04:00

Audra collected pine cones while we waited to see the show.

Sick

2009-08-29T00:21:00.002-04:00

Aria, Elijah and I have been sick the last few days. Audra seems to be fighting it so far. She has been cranky and sneezing, but hasn't gotten any worse. Audra loves to have other people's food and drinks and she is always drinking out of my cup. Today she wanted a drink of my water and I told her she couldn't because I'm sick and I have germs. She said, "I want germs too!"

I read a book to Audra today that had a rainbow in it and she identified every single color in the rainbow. Still a genius in the making!

Letters and numbers

2009-08-26T02:13:00.004-04:00

Aria started to read just after she turned four. We didn't purposely teach her to read at four, it just kind of happened. She was so high need that we read to her constantly. One of her first sentences was, "Reeeead me a book!" She also used to just love to have me write letters on our Magna Doodle and tell her what they said. Another favorite game was asking us to read the "words" she made on our refrigerator with magnet letters. I used to think that maybe she started reading so early because Elijah came along and when I couldn't read to her every minute, she was so determined that she just taught herself.

Audra isn't nearly as determined about things as Aria, but she seems to be going along the same track. She has been counting to 20 for months now and today she looked at a shirt I was wearing that had letters on it and she proceeded to identify at least five of the letters! She just turned two a few weeks ago!

Audra's favorite activity (next to climbing) is reading. She would sit all day if people kept on reading. One of her favorites is The Cat in the Hat. She loves books that repeat and have rhythm. Audra sometimes suddenly breaks into rhyme, reciting parts of The Cat in the Hat. I also got her a new Mother Goose nursery rhyme book a few weeks ago. It is part of her "school" for this year. I couldn't believe how many of the rhymes she already knows! I am continually amazed at my children's abilities!

My engineer

2009-08-26T01:43:00.002-04:00

Elijah loves to take things apart. Lately I have tried hard to redirect this energy because we have issues with things no longer working or Elijah losing the parts of things. A few weeks ago, we gave Elijah an old printer and a screw driver and he went to town. He thought it was the most awesome thing ever! It is still sitting in our garage with the various parts strewn all over. One day I jokingly told him he would have to put it back together and he almost started crying!

One of Elijah's new projects is taking my pens apart. He especially like to takes the springs out of them because he says he needs them for something. I keep grabbing pens that don't work. The other day in the van, I had a pen that wasn't working and I gave it to Elijah to fix. He took it apart and fixed it and he was SO proud. He just went on and on about how good he is at fixing things and how he was going to go home and fix everything in the house. When we got home, he kept asking again and again what he could fix around the house. I couldn't think of anything, so Elijah said he was going to go outside and yell at the people in the cars going by to see if anyone needed anything fixed. My friend Liz thinks he might need to work on his approach a little.

Why do you homeschool?

2009-08-21T01:16:00.005-04:00

This summer, as I was making the decision of whether or not to homeschool, I wrote this list. I'm putting it here because it is a question I am frequently asked, but also because I need to remember these things when the days get tough. ;) And no, I don't think that public school is horrible and that homeschooling is best for every family. I just feel it is best for my family and I'm confident that you are making the best choice for yours. :)

These are the reasons we homeschool, in no particular order...

I want my children to learn at their own pace and learn what interests them in a natural environment.

I want my children to have time to play and be children without the stresses of school.

I don't want to be tied to the school schedule. I want to take a break when we need a break, take a vacation when the opportunity arises, get up when we wake up, and have a somewhat flexible schedule.

I don't want my children to deal with bullying and consumerism and all the other things they would be exposed to in public school. I want to protect their innocence as long as possible.

I want my children's education to focus on service and compassion. I want us to volunteer our time and have experience with all kinds of people. I believe human relationships and service are the keys to the world, and happiness and success.

I don't agree with testing and grades. Above all, I want my children to be emotionally and spiritually healthy. If they get straight A's and go to a great college, but aren't happy and don't follow the Lord, then their "success" means nothing. I don't want school to be the focus of their life.

I want my children to learn about themselves and God's plan for their lives. I want them to discover their dreams and desires and do something they love. I don't want them to feel the pressure of achieving things that please the world.

I want my children to eat healthy, make good choices, and lead a healthy lifestyle.

I want to be the one who teaches my children and watches them learn and grow. I know them and I know their needs and how they learn better than anyone else. There is nothing more important I can give my children than my time and energy.

I want my children to learn to interact with all different kinds and ages of people.

I want our family to have a strong connection. I want my children to always know they are loved and to come to us whenever they need anything. I want our family to come before friends and peers.

I want my children to learn because they enjoy it, not so that they can pass a test or please a teacher. I want them to enjoy learning and have the world be their classroom.

My children's education is my responsibility, not the government's. I don't believe the government knows how to raise healthy children and people, so I don't trust them to educate my child.

Dan and I are nonconformists. Aren't you shocked? ;) And I hope our children are also. I don't want our children to be in an environment where they will pay for this. When they are older and more confident in their beliefs, it will be different.

Our family is far from perfect and we definitely have our issues. Homeschooling forces us to confront these. We are together a lot and it is much more difficult to just shove things aside. I am my children's primary influence and it forces me to be the best parent possible.

I also made a list of all the reasons I don't want to homeschool, but since I made up my mind, I don't need to list those. ;) There definitely isn't an ideal situation and I still doubt our decision. I've prayed about it A LOT. Although some homeschoolers would disagree, I've come to the conclusion that God doesn't have a preference. God does give us lots of guidelines regarding marriage and family and raising children however. And right now, I believe homeschooling is the best way for us to live by these guidelines. I'm terrified that I am not making the right decision and that my children will suffer. But I am certain I would feel the same way about public school, probably even more so. I made my decision and I'm learning to be happy with it and make the best of it.

Business

2009-08-20T23:53:00.008-04:00

I struggled all summer long to decide whether or not to send Aria to school. Homeschooling itself really isn't that hard. People seem to think it is so difficult, but really, I would do most of what I do even if my children were in school. I would be helping them with their homework, volunteering in their school, reading to them constantly, taking them to activities, etc. In a lot of ways, our life would be even more hectic with our children in school, especially with Audra still at home.

What is hard is not having time away. Aria is an incredibly intelligent child who is very intense and very high need. She has and takes a lot of energy and sometimes (a lot of times) we just struggle. Sometimes I think that some time away from each other would help our relationship. We both get overwhelmed. I need a break and I need to focus on something other than my own life. My volunteer work energizes me. It gives me another purpose and in so many ways, it helps me be a better mom. I want to expand on this and have the freedom of being self-employed and doing something I love. We also need the money to pay down this house and someday have a home that better meets our family's needs.

Those are some things that led me to start my business. My family and my children will ALWAYS come first and I would of course drop everything in a heartbeat to do what is best for them. However, I very strongly feel I have found another one of my callings. I am going to become a postpartum doula. In July, I took an intensive 4 day training for postpartum doulas through DONA International. It was just incredible and all I could think about the entire week was how so much in my life seems to have led to this. Having a mother who is an infant mental health specialist, my social work degree, my internship with Early Head Start, my work as a full time child care provider for twin infants, my experiences with my own children, my work with our food cooperative (my very short stunt with website maintenance and starting a small business), all the time I spend on my favorite website (Gentle Christian Mothers), the millions of books on parenting I have read, and of course, the four years I have been a breastfeeding support volunteer. Working with new mothers is my passion, it is something that I am good at, and it is something that is desperately needed in our society. It is something I want to do for the rest of my life.

Of course God has also given me three beautiful children and I want to be the best mother to them that I can. Somehow, I have to find the balance between work and family. I don't want to work a lot of hours. I really have no idea how I will attain this. But I'm praying like crazy, trying to organize my life like crazy, and once again, trying to hire part-time help. So far, I am completely striking out with the hiring help thing. :( Somehow I will make it happen.

Stay tuned for more adventures with Nurturing Traditions Postpartum Doula Services. :-)

Teeth

2009-08-20T23:16:00.002-04:00

We had corn on the cob for dinner tonight-fresh from our CSA. Have I told you how much I LOVE our CSA? Anyway, Elijah was trying to eat it and he came up to me all upset and said, "Momma, something is wrong with my tooth! It hurts so much I can't bite my corn!" He pointed to his bottom tooth and when he did, it moved all the way back toward his tongue. He is getting so big! I can't believe he is losing teeth already!

Official Food, Inc. Movie Site - Hungry For Change?

2009-07-07T19:22:00.002-04:00

Official Food, Inc. Movie Site - Hungry For Change?

Shared via AddThis

I really want to see this. But more importantly, I want other people to see it. It has such an important message!

Banana pancakes-grain free

2009-06-21T01:22:00.003-04:00

I rarely measure anything, so bear with me when I post these recipes!

Put bananas, eggs, vanilla, and cinnamon in the blender and mix. I use about 1 egg per banana. Cook in frying pan over medium-low heat with butter or coconut oil. I use a non-stick pan here. I think these may stick pretty bad otherwise. I find these are so sweet that we don't need syrup. The kids sometimes put applesauce on top, but usually we just roll them up and eat them with our fingers.

Yum!

My lego boy

2009-06-18T00:34:00.004-04:00

Elijah has been really into Legos the past couple months and he can do amazing things with them! One day he got an Indian Jones Jungle Cutter Lego kit and he stayed in the bedroom and put the entire thing together with out any help. He can't read yet, so he just looks at the step-by-step pictures. It took him 6 hours and he didn't even want to come out to eat. There were 511 pieces!

Another creation. This one only had a couple hundred pieces and he had in together in just over an hour.

Back in April...

2009-06-18T00:31:00.000-04:00

Back in April, I had this whole post I was going to write about Audra and how self-sufficient she is getting. Now it seems like old news, but I was watching this video again and it is so cute!

Audra wanted some applesauce and I was busy loading the dishwasher, so I told her I would get it in just a minute. Well, she didn't want to wait. So, she moved her high chair over to the counter, climbed up on it and got it herself!

A few weeks before, she did something similar. We were all sitting at the table and Audra decided that she didn't want to eat the food we gave her. She wanted raisins. One by one, she asked everyone at the table, but we all said no. So, she got out of her high chair, went into the bathroom, got her stool, brought it in the kitchen, climbed up on it and was just able to reach far enough up on the counter to get the raisins. When she finally did, she looked back as us and said, "Got it!" with a huge, proud smile on her face. I had to let her have them!

Another day Audra was watching the birds out the window. She had to go "tinkle" so she apparently got off the table, got her potty, put it on the table, and climbed back up on pee. I was in the next room and heard her calling, "Tinkle potty Momma!"

Mother's Day

2009-06-18T00:18:00.003-04:00

We went to the Saginaw Zoo for Mother's Day.

Various pictures...

2009-06-18T00:06:00.004-04:00

clothing

2009-06-18T00:00:00.004-04:00

Audra does not like to keep her clothing on. She is getting better about leaving her shirts on, but even keeping her panties on during the day is a battle. She does, however, like to put clothing on, especially if it isn't hers. One day I was getting out the summer clothing and Audra decided to put on as many of Aria's shirts as she could. I think she has on a few pair of Elijah's pants and shorts also.

Food and health, etc.

2009-06-17T19:02:00.006-04:00

Wow! It's already been two months since I last posted. I could say that I have just been really busy, but honestly, I think it is just that most of my computer time is spent on Facebook! It's much easier to get on there and post a sentence than to get on here and write a several paragraphs.

We've had a lot going on of course-finishing up second grade, field trips, plays, OT twice a week, new foods and a new diet, the annual Midland Art Fair, the annual LLL conference, a garage sale, parties, a sick dog, lots of gardening, appointments with lawyers, a sick and increasingly busy toddler. The list goes on...

So... Where do I even start? Our strawberries are ready in the garden. We have quite a few and they are yummy! We planted carrots, squash, beans, pie pumpkins and lettuce, but unfortunately, the bunnies have eaten most of it. I am really hoping to stock the freezers with food this year and maybe even to can some things, but I always tend to overestimate how much time I will have! Already, our calender is almost all filled up for the summer. We did join a CSA again this year. We loved the CSA we were in last year, but it was in Mt. Pleasant and the group of people we were in that shared pick-up were not interested this year. So, we joined a different one that is in Snover, but delivers to the Bay City Farmer's Market.

Getting produce has become a huge deal in our family. We are still eating grain-free and only sweetening things with honey. We eat lots of raw dairy, local, grass fed, free range meat, and no packaged food, but that isn't really anything new. The results have been amazing! Elijah has had very few allergies this spring and has only have one episode of asthma that was illness induced. He isn't even on any meds, which is just a miracle for him. He has been so sick the last few springs that I was starting to dread warm weather. Aria also has been much healthier. She has had no vomiting and only had abdominal pain a couple times when she was under a lot of stress. I feel much healthier also, although I think for me, an improvement in my health would include getting regular sleep and learning how to handle life better. I'm working on it. I have A LONG way to go!

The down side of the diet is money and time. Our food costs are through the roof. Our health insurance company might be saving $500 a month or more on prescription costs and doctor visits, but the savings doesn't exactly go to us. It has also taken a lot of time, especially at first. We have had to experiment with a lot of new recipes and are still working on finding things to make that everyone likes. Some nights we just have to make separate meals. I have a list of about 10 different breakfast ideas and lots of ideas for snacks, but dinner is the hardest. Without grains, it takes a lot of food to fill us up! We eat things like squash, carrots, avocado, cheese, and peas to meet our needs for carbohydrates. It has been fun experimenting and making so many new foods. I've had a lot of people asking for recipes, so I will post some soon! Even if you aren't grain-free, we've made some yummy things!

Last week, Audra got sick for the second (maybe third?) time in her life. She had up to a 103-104 degree temp all weekend and broke out in an awful rash. I took her to the doctor and they didn't really know what it was. I mentioned that I knew some people who have had hand/foot/mouth disease and Audra did have some spots on one of her hands. So, that was the diagnosis. However, Audra is covered from head to toe in a rash. I've never seen anything like it! And usually hand/foot/mouth disease shows up on the hands, feet, and mouth-not everywhere else. I called the doctor again, but they still think it is viral and just recommended Benedryl and oatmeal baths for the itching. Audra seems a little better today. There aren't any new spots and her fever has been gone since yesterday, but she is still itchy and not sleeping well. Apparently a grain free diet doesn't prevent everything!

Clooney also has been having digestive problems. We spent almost $500 in vet bills last month. He lost some weight and we were pretty concerned. But it seems he has just developed a sensitivity to his food. He fits right into this family! We have put him on homemade dog food and he seems to be doing much better. I've been reading a lot about the dog food industry and am pretty horrified by what I have been reading. Even the dog foods that are supposed to be high quality aren't. It has never made sense to me to keep an animal on the same food every day anyway, even if it is supposed to be a complete source of nutrition. I want Clooney to have a long and happy life with us and eating healthy has had such a huge impact on our health, that I really think it can do the same for him. I've been looking into Wysong and their eating recommendations and I really like what I see so far. They focus on healthy fats, good bacteria, and a varied, whole food diet. They even have grain free food. All things that have had a huge impact on our health, so why not apply them to our dog too? And their food is meant to just suppliment other "human" foods. Best of all, they are a local company. Yeah!!!

Clooney's birthday and Easter

2009-04-20T00:40:00.004-04:00

Clooney's second birthday happened to fall on Easter this year. He got a new toy and came to my mom's house with us, went for a walk, and had some turkey. I set up a scavenger hunt for the kids and hid change around the house. They got some clothes, bubbles, balloons, and a few little things in Easter baskets. We missed church this year. I was bummed, but I was sick and Elijah was just starting to get better. I wanted to go to my mom's and see my sister and her boyfriend who were home from Chicago and I knew we couldn't do both. We didn't take many pictures, but here are a couple.

Health

2009-04-19T22:50:00.005-04:00

We have all been healthy since Christmas, but the week of Easter and the week after, Elijah and I were sick and then Dan got sick. I had a really tough time because Dan couldn't take work off and I was exhausted and kept getting sicker and sicker. I am still recovering. The good news is that Audra never got it. She had a little bit of a cough one day and a little congestion before any of us actually got sick, but that is all. Her immunity just amazes me and I feel SO blessed to have at least one child that doesn't have any chronic health problems! She has really only been sick, other than a mildly runny nose and fussiness, twice in her life. Aria and Elijah's health issues put a lot of pressure on our family and when they were Audra's age, they were constantly sick. We couldn't go anywhere, they didn't sleep, and it was just plain hard!

Aria has still been dealing with some tummy issues. We have started the specific carbohydrate diet to see if it will help. Some days I think it is helping and other days, it doesn't seem to be. It can take up to 6 months to really work. The SCD isn't vastly different from how we usually ate because we didn't eat gluten or any processed sugar. But now we are completely grain free and only use honey to sweeten things. I've been baking things with almond flour and we've been eating lots of jello made with juice, tons of homemade yogurt, and tons of fruits and veggies. I have 10 different breakfasts from which to choose, but dinner has been difficult. We used to eat a lot of rice. Aria doesn't like onions, garlic, spices, tomatoes, anything crunchy. The list goes on. I still cook with these things because it is about impossible not to, but it leads to a lot of complaining and frustration.

Audra seems to be somewhat like Aria and only wants to eat dairy, bread, and things that are sweet. She loves fruit, so she basically lives on bananas, cheese, and yogurt. She also loves almond butter. And baking soda! Audra asks for baking soda and eats it and gets into it every chance she gets. Yuck! With the exception of the baking soda, I basically just give Audra whatever she asks to eat and make sure we always have the foods she likes around. If we don't have what she likes, she gets cranky and wants to nurse constantly-no fun! She obviously seems to be healthy and doing well and maybe she just knows what her body needs.

It's so much more difficult with Aria because her health isn't great and I feel like we are down to doing something drastic to avoid surgery or invasive procedures. I am trying to explain this to her and let her make her own decisions about the diet and what she should eat, but it is still upsetting and hard for her to handle. She wants to feel better, but she also wants to eat what other people are eating.

Elijah isn't picky about food at all. I just read this week that boys have fewer taste buds than girls, so maybe it's related! He does have food allergies and sensitivies though, so we have to work with those. We gave Elijah almonds a few months ago and he does fine with them! The first tree nut he has ever had! They were the only nut that came up negative on his tests, so we figured we would try them. Elijah has struggled with asthma lately with spring here. We had to give him breathing treatments when he was sick last week and one night he was so bad, I considered taking him to the ER. I really don't want to put him back on asthma medication because it has side effects. It definitely lowered his immunity and gave him thrush. I also think it may have stunted his growth. He did not grow much this winter at all. Dan thinks he will catch up this summer. There's so much to think about! I really hope the use of some alternative treatments will help us keep him off meds. I found this article on asthma the other day and Mercola has a lot of good comments. Most of it we already do, but it reminded me to keep giving Elijah Vit. D and fish oil and make sure he gets exercise. Summer is coming, which is a big help!

Audra's latest trick

2009-04-19T22:37:00.004-04:00

She flips in a complete circle sometimes. I don't encourage that though because it is just a little dangerous. Maybe some day we can afford gymnastics!

Elijah's bedtime

2009-04-19T21:54:00.002-04:00

Elijah is great at asking questions, especially if it is bedtime. Every night when I lie down with him, we pray and then he says, "Momma?"
"Yes."
"What are we doing tomorrow?"
I answer him and he asks at least 10 questions related to what we are doing. Finally he runs out of questions about this. Then he starts over. Tonight after we discussed tomorrow's activities, it went like this.
"Momma?"
"Yes."
"I know that one plus one is two and two plus two is four, and five plus five is ten. What is four plus four?" We count on his fingers and then he repeats the question and the process with three plus three.
"Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmm. What is wood made out of?"
I answer. We talk about plants and different kids of cells. He asks a few more questions about cells.
"Momma?"
"Yes?"
"Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Do octopus' have bones?" I tell him that I don't think they do, but that we can read about them tomorrow. He thinks for a minute. "Well, how do they swim? Aren't they all squishy? How do they eat?"
"Elijah?"
"What Mommy?"
"I love your questions, but it's time for bed now."
"Okaaay. Good night."
I get up to leave and say, "Good night. I love you."
"Mommy?"
"Yes."
"Can I have a drink of water."

Thirty minutes later, he is in bed asleep and all the questions of the world have been answered.

Love You Momma

2009-04-09T23:00:00.003-04:00

Audra told me she loved me today for the first time. I picked her up and she hugged me and said, "Momma! Oh Momma! Love you Momma!"

Cute sayings

2009-03-30T11:20:00.002-04:00

Last week we were at the mall and Audra saw the Easter bunny throwing a ball back and forth with one of his helpers. She was just intrigued by the whole thing and hasn't stopped talking about it since! "Bunny. Bunny throw ball. See bunny later?" We were just talking about Easter and Audra heard us. She said, "Easter? Bunny. Bunny throw ball." I guess we'll have to start working on the real meaning of Easter!

Last night I took Elijah to Meijer with me to buy groceries. After we had our cart full of food, he said, "You know Momma, if we didn't buy all this we could spend the money on furniture or something like that." I told him that if we didn't buy the food we wouldn't have anything to eat. He said, "Oh yeah." Then he thought for a minute or two and said, "How do you have money to buy this anyway? Where do you get money? You don't have a job. You don't work." Me not working seems to be a reoccurring theme in our house. Here's a survey I did on Facebook a few weeks back...

1. What is something mommy always says to you?

Aria: No and save money.

Elijah: Clean up the living room. Don't watch TV.

2. What makes mommy happy?

Aria: When I clean up the WHOLE house.

Elijah: That I am polite.

3. What makes mommy sad?

Aria: Nothing, You're just always mad.

Elijah: If I ran out into the street and died.

4. How does your mommy make you laugh?

Aria: When you think of something silly for '20 questions' that no one would ever guess.

Elijah: When I tell funny jokes.

5. What was your mommy like as a child?

Aria: JUST LIKE ME!

Elijah: You played a lot and you made a mess.

6. How old is your mommy?

Aria: 31

Elijah: 100 (giggle)

7. How tall is your mommy?

Aria: 6 feet, 7 inches

Elijah: 40 inches

8. What is her favorite thing to do?

Aria: Watch a good family movie.

Elijah: Play with me.

9. What does your mommy do when you're not around?

Aria: Watch movies and clean up the house.

Elijah: Do special stuff, like clean up the living room and clean the kitchen.

10. If your mommy becomes famous, what will it be for?

Aria: Not making money, having eyes in the back of your head.

Elijah: Money-you could make money in one minute.

11. What is your mommy really good at?

Aria: Calming Audra down.

Elijah: Taking care of me.

12. What is your mommy not very good at?

Aria: Climbing up the side of the bunkbed. You never do it! Daddy does it!

Elijah: Fixing things.

13. What does your mommy do for her job?

Aria: Ha! You don't have a job.

Elijah: What job? I guess cleaning, taking care of Audra, me, and Aria.

14. What is your mommy's favorite food?

Aria: Fresh salad.

Elijah: Salad.

15. What makes you proud of your mommy?

Aria: (roll eyes). She gets cool birthday presents.

Elijah: You are nice like you are right now.

16. If your mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be?

Aria: I don't know. I don't watch many cartoons. Mr. Nezzer on Veggie Tales. You're mean and then you end up being nice in the end.

Elijah: Darth Vader-a girl Darth Vader whose really strong because you sometimes wear black clothes and you're good at wearing t-shirts.

17. What do you and your mommy do together?

Aria: Read books.

Elijah: Play with wooden animals, play with blocks, wrestle in the bed. Well, we did that once.

18. How are you and your mommy the same?

Aria: We both like summer.

Elijah: We're not the same. You're a girl and I'm a boy.

19. How are you and your mommy different?

Aria: I like the cold and you like the hot.

Elijah: You have long hair and I have short hair.

20. How do you know your mommy loves you?

Aria:(rolling eyes again). Cause you alllllways say it.

Elijah: Because you take care of me.

21. What does your mommy like most about your dad?

Aria: That's a hard one. Hmmmmm. He cooks dinner. Sometimes.

Elijah: You like him because he's a boy and he likes Superman.

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?

Aria: Hmmmmm. Let's see. The CLOTHES store!

Elijah: Somewhere to have a date with me.

Aria's 8th birthday

2009-03-21T23:54:00.006-04:00

Aria is still kind of waiting for her birthday party. She really wants to have her first sleep over but her friends are expecting a new sibling any day and it didn't work out the week of her birthday. So, we compromised and Aria decided to go to the library, have some different friends over for a few hours and then go out to eat with her grandmas while Elijah was in play practice.

Dan came home for lunch so Aria could open her gifts. We gave in and bought Aria an American Girl doll. She has wanted one for two years now and she really didn't want anything else. Dan and I are pretty against the whole concept of the moneygrubbing, "made-in-China" American Girl company. However, I have to admit that the books are great and the doll is extremely well made. I am told that American Girl even has a hot line to call if you have any concerns or questions regarding your doll. They have a doll hospital, in case your doll is damaged, and they will send your doll back to you in a hospital gown. And of course, you can buy matching outfits and go to Chicago to spend thousands of dollars to have your hair done with your doll and have lunch. I am hoping I haven't created a monster, but Aria is thrilled and there are worse things in the world!Somehow this is the only picture that turned out!

Aria's doll didn't get here until the day after her birthday, so I gave her a poster with the doll's picture and description.

Baking soda anyone?

2009-03-15T19:41:00.003-04:00

I just walked in the kitchen to find Audra with her whole arm in large box of baking soda. Her mouth was all white and she was shoving a second batch in her mouth. She looked up at me and said, "Toes. Put on toes." I guess it felt nice on her toes too.

Audra has a new phrase when she wants me. Today I was sleeping in the bedroom and I woke up to, "Momma take her!! Momma take her!" The last few weeks that has been her phrase for "Momma pick me up, Momma I need you!"

Elijah is going to be in a play at MCFTA called "Mother Goose Gets Eaten by a Werewolf." It is a comedy about all the Mother Goose characters. Elijah will perform in the lobby when people are entering the theater and will also plays a short role at the beginning of the play. He has been practicing for weeks and this is the big week. He had practice today and has it again on Tuesday. Thursday and Saturday he is in the play. I'll have to post pictures later.

Today was a busy day. We went to church and then Elijah had play practice. While he was in his class, the rest of us went to the lizard and snake exhibit at the museum. The kids have gone before, but Dan didn't come with us. When Elijah was finished with his class, we went to Dow Gardens to see the butterfly exhibit. Audra just loved the butterflies and even got to hold one. I didn't bring the camera, so I'm hoping to go again and get pictures! The weather today was just gorgeous! It was fifty degrees and sunny; our first real spring day.

I haven't blogged in awhile, partly because I've been busy. I get behind and then get overwhelmed by all the pictures and catching up I want to do on here. So, I finally decided to just sit down and start typing! We've been having a tough time with our house again. We haven't been able to use the furnace because we had water under the house and the awful sewer smell. The last couple years we had to move out until the water levels went down, but this year we put plastic over the heat vents so it sealed out the smell from the crawlspace. We've been using space heaters, but it costs a fortune to run them and they don't keep up if it is really cold.

At this point, the house is only worth about half of what we have put in it and with the economy here and all the problems we've had, we owe way more than it is worth. It's all so overwhelming and we go back and forth about what to do. I'm considering going back to school for another degree or some kind of certification or trying to get an evening and weekend job. We've looked at foreclosure and if we can't get this house fixed somehow, it is most likely our only option. All we can really do is hold out for a miracle because that is the only thing that would get us out of this situation. Our state unemployment rate is over 10% right now and we're in one of the worst hit areas. Everyone I talk to is affected of course.

Like many people, we are having to reevaluate a lot of our goals and dreams and really figure out what is most important to us and where God wants us. Aria is turning eight next week. Time flies by so fast!

help me save the pandas!

2009-02-18T15:32:00.000-05:00

help me save the pandas!
go to http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/GiantPandas/
thanks!

Here's another one...

2009-01-30T20:50:00.004-05:00

You can't see anything because it was dark, but just listen. Audra is learning to sing!

Audra videos

2009-01-30T20:07:00.003-05:00

A few posts ago, I wrote about Audra (not) giving Clooney treats. Well, tonight I got it on video. She was actually feeding him dog food that he didn't finish from dinner, but he was obviously convinced that it was something good. She finally gave him the treat when they got to the rocking chair.

Sledding with Daddy

2009-01-25T00:08:00.003-05:00

Audra stayed home, but she got to play in the yard before they left...

More sledding pictures...

2009-01-25T00:00:00.000-05:00

Clooney's new hide out

2009-01-24T23:41:00.006-05:00

Clooney has been spending a lot of time under the trampoline lately. It is a good place to get away from Audra. Aria and Elijah have decided it's a good place to hang out too!

Audra loves to give Clooney treats lately. She says, "Tree, tree," and wants someone to get her treats to give him. She runs through the house shrieking, treat in her hand, and Clooney runs after her. Then she tells him to sit and lie down and he does it! She doesn't give him the treat though. She just goes running through the house again and Clooney jumps up to start the game over. Usually one of the older people eventually feels sorry for Clooney and makes Audra give him the treat.

Half birthdays

2009-01-24T22:25:00.004-05:00

Today was Elijah and Audra's half birthday. Audra is 18 months and Elijah is 5 1/2. Elijah was asking if we could have a party; maybe just half a party. He thought maybe he could just do half his chores and maybe Grandma Sandy would bring him half a balloon. Aria thought maybe we could make half a cake. Then after thinking about it for a minute, she lit up with excitement and said, "Wait! We have two half birthdays, so we can make a whole cake!" We didn't have cake or a party, but Grandma Sandy came over and took some pictures. She brought balloons too; whole balloons.

Elijah made a rocket, a launch pad, and a garage this week out of our co-op boxes.

Markers

2008-12-30T23:53:00.006-05:00

Today Aria was coloring with markers on the living room floor. Audra kept getting in them so Aria picked her up, took her in the kitchen, and put her in her high chair. She gave Audra some of her own markers and left, but forgot to give her paper. I walked in a few minutes later to find Audra coloring her arm. She looked up at me and said, "Paper?" with a mouthful of marker tips.

More markers

2008-12-30T23:09:00.000-05:00

More Christmas pictures...

2008-12-29T22:50:00.004-05:00

Aria's big gift was a Waldorf doll custom made for her. Aria named her Molly. Molly and Aria have matching dresses. I was so excited to give Aria her gifts! I knew she would love them!

Audra got a wooden ball roller and a big Elmo chair. She loves Elmo!

I guess we didn't take any good pictures of them, but Elijah got the whole set of transformer crossovers.

Climbing

2008-12-29T22:21:00.003-05:00

Not surprisingly, Audra thought all her gifts were to climb on.

Clooney's Christmas

2008-12-29T22:09:00.003-05:00

Clooney loves his reindeer ears. Can't you tell?

We put Cheerios in Clooney's stocking (his favorite) and he didn't take his head out until they were all eaten up!

The stove hole

2008-12-29T16:56:00.003-05:00

Aria and Elijah made the best out of an annoying situation...

The most inconvienent Christmas...

2008-12-29T15:41:00.009-05:00

Christmas Eve morning I was listening to a song on the radio called, “The Most Inconvenient Christmas.” It tells a story about a family who has all these “inconvenient” things happen to them on Christmas, but the singer reminds himself over and over that the most inconvenient Christmas was the first. It was the first time I have ever heard the song and I started thinking about the words. I thought, “For once I’m not really that overwhelmed. Audra is sick and it is making it really tough to get things done, but I’ve got some of the presents wrapped, the house is getting clean… Maybe this year won’t be so chaotic.” Well, I think God used that song to prepare me, because 15 minutes later, the day before everyone was coming to our house for dinner, our stove completely broke.

The standing joke in our house is that nothing can go wrong now, except maybe with the hot water heater. We have completely redone the foundation, torn the roof off, put in new flooring, and replaced the washing machine, the stove, and the oven. We’ve tried to fix the bathroom fixtures, the walls and ceilings are still in need of repair (we’re planning on having this done in the summer), and we have had the furnace fixed four times now. We put gutters on the garage, but then decided the garage is just a loss because it is way too expensive to completely repair. The refrigerator and dishwasher are temperamental, but Dan has managed to keep them working well enough. Keep in mind that we didn’t move into a foreclosed house or anything. We had it inspected, but the owners just mastermindedly concealed many of the issues. They didn’t notice that the foundation and garage flooded after every rain, that the insulation in the oven was used by mice for their bedding, that the burners on the stove didn’t work, that the new roof was put on by idiots and that the furnace only worked intermittently…

Anyway, last month, the only thing left in the house without problems starting having them. The hot water heater started leaking. Then Christmas Eve, the stove that we had only purchased two years ago quit. It was already down to two burners and Dan had looked into fixing it, but the cost to fix it was almost as much as buying a new one, so we were just surviving with two burners. I could have canceled dinner at our house, but with Audra sick, I didn’t really want to haul her off to someone else’s house. Not to mention it was a little last minute and we couldn’t go long without a stove anyway. So, we starting calling around and searching for a new stove. Without redoing the wiring in the kitchen and tearing cupboards out, we have to have a built-in countertop stove and most placed didn’t even have any in stock. Finally I found one and got the people to come down $250 on the price. Dan went and got it and spent the rest of the day and night cutting a bigger hole in our counter to install it. We were “iced” in and couldn’t go to church, especially with Audra sick, but needless to say, I didn’t get any cleaning or cooking done for Christmas and our Christmas turned out a bit “inconvenient.” But even as I was awake most of the night Christmas Eve with a sick baby, I reminded myself things still weren’t as inconvenient as walking 100 miles in labor and giving birth in a barn, away from everyone you know and love.

We still managed to have a nice dinner and Aria and Elijah loved having everyone at our house. They got all sorts of great gifts, as usual, and have been busy getting everything out of the boxes and trying it all out. Two days after Christmas it was over 50 degrees out and raining, so our crawlspace flooded and our septic backed up. Today we found out that some of the stove problems we are having are a result of electrical issues in our house. Some hack redid all our electrical a few years ago. More inconvenience; but not as inconvenient as giving birth to a baby that would be ridiculed, beaten, and eventually put to death. The most inconvenient Christmas was the first.

Audra and Clooney

2008-12-14T14:46:00.003-05:00

Audra and Clooney are becoming so close and I think it is so cute how she includes him in everything. At bedtime and nap time, part of Audra's routine is to give everyone a kiss. She always makes sure to kiss Clooney too. Audra loves to have barrettes put in her hair so she can go around the house and have everyone tell her how pretty she is (before she tears them out). She goes up to each person and then to Clooney, who is often lying on the couch. She squats down to his level, puts her hand on her hair, and says, "Coo coo!" He will look up and will sometimes stick his nose in her face. Audra loves it when Clooney licks her or sticks his nose in her face. She just shrieks with joy!

The other day, Aria, Elijah, and I were all on the bed reading Audra books before her nap. I could tell that Audra was thrilled to have all the attention focused on her. Suddenly, she looked toward the door, got up from the bed, and started calling, "Coo, coo!" She walked over to the couch and tried to pull Clooney toward the bedroom. We couldn't leave him out!

A busy little girl

2008-12-01T22:29:00.003-05:00

I found the nightlight in the dishwasher, the missing beanbag in the pan cupboard, the peeler in the box of legos, and there was zucchini in the bedroom. Last week the wire whisk disappeared and then reappeared a couple days later. Missing anything? Ask Audra!

Snow

2008-12-01T13:28:00.002-05:00

Aria finished her math and English in record time today so she could play in the snow. When Audra saw her sister and brother going outside she brought me her snow pants. She LOVES to be outside and has a fit whenever someone goes out without her. So, I bundled her up and threw her out with the big kids. Audra amazes me because even with hard bottomed shoes (she has only worn these twice now), snow pants, a winter coat, a hat, and gloves, she still just goes and goes. Nothing will keep that girl back; except maybe eating the snow! When Aria and Elijah were that age and I bundled them up, they just sat there like lumps and wouldn't move.

Audra fell out of the sled (someone pulled it a little too hard) and came in crying. I unbundled her and she sat on my lap for about 2 minutes and started to fall asleep. As soon as I put Audra down, Elijah came in and said, "QUICK!!!! I have to pee!!!!!" Then, "Can I have hot chocolate?"

Aria, well, she just was. Aria was. We are learning about verbs that show a state of being today. Remember those?

Gotta love the snow. Especially if you are not me. :P

2008-11-24T14:00:00.005-05:00

Aria is singing (to the tune of Rain Rain Go Away)...

Snow, snow don't go away.
Come again another day.
I don't care if you stay all day.
Snow snow don't go away.
Aria and Elijah want to play
Out in the snow today.

I am singing...

Snow, snow, go away.
Don't come again another day.
I want summer to always stay.
Snow snow go away.

At least someone enjoys this weather! :) I taught Audra how to say, "Brrrrrr" when she goes near the door. She would walk right out in the snow with no pants if I let her. These kids can't be related to me!

Never posted these...

2008-11-16T14:03:00.002-05:00

Ann Arbor museum

2008-11-16T13:29:00.004-05:00

We went to the Ann Arbor museum for about an hour before Audra and Elijah's doctor appointments. Audra decided that THIS was the day and the place that she was going to walk, and she has been walking ever since! I think there was just too much to see and do while she crawled and she decided that she liked the walking thing and stuck with it!

Audra and I stayed in the baby/toddler area while Dan took Aria and Elijah to the "big kid" area

Blowing a tornado

Blah!

2008-11-16T12:29:00.009-05:00

Dan and I watched "Juno" Friday night and I cried and cried. Not because it was that sad, but because I am just at the point of emotional meltdown. It has been a tough few months and I really HATE this time of year. The kids have basically been sick since September; one gets better, then the next gets sick, then someone gets better and someone else gets sick. Audra especially has had a tough time. Until September she had really only been sick once in her life, but now she just can't kick it. She has been up coughing and congested night after night.

Aria has started her unexplained vomiting episodes in the middle of the night again too. Last year she did this for months and started to lose weight. We almost took her to U of M and had her sedated and scoped, but it stopped. She has had this off and on since she was two and we have never been able to pinpoint the cause. It was worse then ever right after Audra was born and I know stress aggravates it. Considering our family history, I think it might be allergy related. I have never had her tested because she has outgrown the eczema and has never had the hives or breathing problems that Elijah has. But I have spent months writing down everything she eats and have found no connection.

We took Elijah and Audra to U of M a couple weeks ago for allergy tests. We were at the doctor's office for almost 4 hours, but the kids did pretty well. Audra was scratch tested and only cried for a minute. Her tests came back all clear! Elijah tested a level 5 (on a scale of 1-5, 5 is the most allergic) to tree nuts and peanuts and is also allergic to tree pollen. He had a harder time with the test because he had big red welts all over him and couldn't scratch or touch his skin. He cried quite a bit. Then he had to have blood tests to confirm the nut allergies because the skin tests showed him so severely allergic. By the time we waited at the lab for an hour to get his blood drawn, he just lost it. Poor guy! We just got the results of the blood tests back yesterday and sure enough, they also show him allergic to tree nuts and peanuts.

We also had a lot of questions for the doctor about Elijah's diagnosis of asthma since we were there last. They did some breathing tests, but those came back normal. Elijah had been on breathing treatments for several weeks though. We have a peak-flow meter to measure his air intake now, but it hasn't really shown us a lot so far. Elijah hasn't has any symptoms since the appointment and we have even taken him off his meds.

Elijah's improvement could be related to our house issues though; another huge stress AGAIN! We still have this moldy smell under our house that gets bad every spring and fall. We can't use our furnace because it makes the smell penetrate through the whole house. We have been heating with space heaters. I ended up calling the company we paid thousands of dollars to fix our foundation and threatening legal action. The foundation is under warranty and even though they have been out time and time again, they can't figure out what is going on. Well, long story short, they sent out the head guy (about two hours after I called) and figured out that there was a bunch of moldy insulation in our crawl space that they should have removed two years ago when they "fixed" it. So, Dan pulled several garbage bags of it out and found rotting, moldy wood and more damage to the foundation behind it. I was praising God that finally our problem was solved. But guess what. The smell is still there two weeks later. Elijah started getting better soon after removing the moldy insulation, so I hope it all least made some improvement. Now I don't know what to do about the smell though. I have been in our crawl several times now, looking all over, trying to figure out what the smell would be. I think that it just can't be fixed. And the problem is that since the crawl space is sealed up to prevent moisture from coming in, it also seals in the smell. We have already lost so many thousands and thousands of dollars on this house and I can't imagine we will ever sell it when it smells. We also found out this summer that it is going to cost $20,000 to fix our garage. We don't have that kind of money, so the garage is pretty much a complete loss. It just never ends!

Our furnace also broke a couple weeks ago. Our 5 year old washing machine died. We figured out if couldn't be fixed after we paid someone $105 to look at it. Our dishwasher is not working. AND Dan ran into my friend's mom's car in our driveway with our van. It caused $1800 worth of damage to their car and we aren't sure about the van yet.

Yeah, its been a great few months. The worst part is that I am not getting sleep and it makes it SO much harder to deal with everything. I feel depressed, can't remember anything, and have little patience with the kids. I have been trying to get out of the house as much as possible. As long as the kids are semi-healthy, we go. I have stopped planning anything ahead though because I end up just canceling. I am trying to enjoy the time at home and enjoy the opportunity to give the kids lots of TLC, but it is so hard to stay positive! At least Clooney is healthy and happy to have us home a lot!

Dan is sick right now and won't be home any night this week, but he has the week of Thanksgiving off of work. I'm praying we can all get healthy and enjoy the holiday!

My "potty trained" 15 month old

2008-11-15T01:15:00.002-05:00

Audra is "potty trained" about 90% of the time. I haven't changed a poppy diaper in over 9 months. I just figured that since everyone got used to me co-sleeping with my babies and breastfeeding my toddlers, I had better add something new with our third child. So I threw in something called Elimination Communication in order to keep people's eyes rolling. In case you are one of those people who thinks I am totally insane when I take my one year old to the potty, here's a great article that explains it all. I actually was introduced to EC from the author herself. Thanks Amy! :)

Elimination-Communication---Can-I-potty-train-a-baby

Music

2008-11-06T00:59:00.002-05:00

Aria and I were reading a book the other day that mentioned The Beatles. I told Aria and Elijah that Dan and I have their CDs and Elijah has been asking to listen to "The Bugs," all week. He isn't the best at remembering names and sometimes the things he comes up with are just hilarious. Today we finally listened to The Beatles and when the CD was finished, Elijah said, "Now I have three favorite CDs; The Big Boys," (The Newsboys), "that country guy," (Garth Brooks), "and The Bugs," (The Beatles).

Halloween

2008-10-31T22:57:00.004-04:00

Tonight was our third Halloween event this week. Elijah has been something different every time; first a lion, then a Native American, and tonight he was an Incredible. We don't really know anything about the Incredibles, but Elijah knows they are fast and are superheros and that is enough for him! Aria stuck with the veterinarian theme and her patients were Clooney and Audra the panda. Dan, well, he doesn't need a costume. I was the same thing I have been for the last eight years... Momma.

Elijah Says...

2008-10-31T00:48:00.004-04:00

Elijah and I listened to a story on NPR about disappearing frogs. He says, "The frogs are disappearing? Huh! First the Dinosaurs start disappearing, now the frogs are disappearing. And, I think I heard that the Mammals are disappearing, too!"

He asks a lot of questions. I think it is partly because he strongly desires to try to understand the world around him better. Unfortunately, he is a victim of 2nd child syndrome. We had him when Aria was still a baby and he never got the attention she had. He's still a bright boy, but seems to really revel in the rare moments of one-on-one time he gets. He needs dates with mommy and daddy more than Aria.

This episode gave me a chance to introduce the word "extinct" and talk about how nature and ecosystems work synergistically and interdependently.

Aria and Clooney are famous

2008-10-24T17:46:00.002-04:00

Pumpkins Galore

People, dogs make cute couples at contest

By Cheryl Wade
of the Daily News

Published: Friday, October 24, 2008 1:02 PM EDT

For a brief time Thursday evening, dogs played, fussed and occasionally whined or barked -- right in the middle of a classy downtown Midland clothing shop.

Jacqueline Bradley, owner of Athalia's Boutique, played host to the first-ever "Doggie Runway Costume Contest" at Midland's Pumpkin Festival. Downtown thronged with costumed children begging for candy at businesses and rolling pumpkins. Lots of parents looked on.

Nearly all the 22 dogs, whose owners each paid $5 to enter the contest, were small breeds. Each dog and human pair were judged as they walked down a red carpet "runway." The idea was to try and keep your dog pretty much under control, dress up your dog and yourself and -- most of all -- look cute.

Hattie the toy poodle, wearing a hot dog outfit, vocalized before the action began. Her human, 5-year-old Skyler Malone, was dressed as Hannah Montana, complete with long blonde locks, stylin' sunglasses and a lime green top with a green and turquoise shrug.

"She found it when we were back-to-school shopping," said mother Gwen Malone of the costume.

Dog and child won the prize for best runway walk.

"I thought it was great," said Sarah Jo Larkin-Stark, vice president of the Humane Society of Midland County and the commentator for the show.

A rambunctious yellow Labrador, Elwood, seemed to want to play with all the other dogs and wasn't much interested in keeping his Shrek costume on properly. He and 16-month-old Nolan Coppens, dressed as a teddy bear, won the award for cutest couple. Technically, it was a trio, because Nolan's daddy, Chris, helped out a lot.

"It just sounded like something fun to do," Chris said.

A late entrant, a bull dog in a cheerleader outfit, won the prize for most creative. Three ninjas -- two boys and a dog -- won for best lookalike. The boys, seven-year-old Alex and five-year-old Tuyler Rodriguez, were teamed up with Scotty, the ninja dog, who was ready to be adopted. Scotty was well behaved at the start but, when it came time for the runway walk, seemed to have his own agenda and wanted to go any way but the right way.

The Humane Society, which will receive proceeds from the contest, brought Scotty -- a six-year-old Chihuahua-Pommeranian mix, as an "adoptable dog."

"I'm in the market for a dog, a small dog that could be here in the store," Bradley said. She was looking for a dog who "kind of fits that profile."

Uniting a ninja dog and two ninja boys wasn't an accident.

"I'm friends with Sarah Jo," said the boys' mother, Janelle Mashue. Scotty's a sweetheart and the boys wanted to come downtown and get dressed up.

"We don't have a family dog yet, so Sarah Jo's loaning us Scotty for the night," Mashue said.

Aria Segura, seven, turned her doctor costume into a veterinarian costume and took her dog, Clooney the miniature poodle, as her patient.

"I have my things that I need in my pocket," she said. Those "things" were "some medicine," a syringe and a stethoscope.

Reporter Cheryl Wade may be reached at cwade@mdn.net or (989) 839-4272.

Here is a picture that we took. It is hard to see in the picture, but Clooney has an ace bandage on his leg. Everyone thought his coat was part of the costume, but the festival was outside and we just thought he might get cold!

Yummy toes

2008-10-24T16:47:00.000-04:00

I don't know what was on Audra's toes that tasted so good, but Audra just giggled and giggled! Clooney didn't even seem too concerned about the possibility of getting kicked. They went on like this for at least ten minutes!

Elijah carrying Audra

2008-10-23T18:49:00.000-04:00

Elijah put Audra in the Ergo and walked around the house. He was so proud and looks so paternal!

Apple Farm

2008-10-22T23:43:00.005-04:00

Last Thursday we went on our annual field trip to our local apple farm. We attended with lots of other homeschool families and learned about the life cycle of an apple tree. We went on a hayride, decorated pumpkins, made apple cider, and played in a huge area with all sorts of different activities. I took lots of pictures...

Playing with corn

2008-10-22T23:42:00.000-04:00

I took at least 20 of these pictures. Audra was concentrating so hard and just loved playing with the corn!

Two more...

2008-10-22T23:41:00.000-04:00

Truck

2008-10-08T23:28:00.003-04:00

Here is a cuter and much more fun time! Audra loves to be pushed around in Elijah's Tonka truck. She climbs right in and says, "Uh, uh, " until someone pushes her. Yes, we are at the "Uh," stage!

It finally happened...

2008-10-08T22:58:00.003-04:00

And I'm sure it won't be the last time. Audra was climbing and fell flat on her face on the kitchen floor. She had a bloody, fat lip and a bruised, bleeding nose. She pushes the kitchen chairs all around the house and uses them as a stepping stool up to everything else; the desk, the kitchen counters, the kitchen table, the school table. All I have to do it turn around for a second. I have already gotten rid of the desk chair and I am seriously considering getting rid of all the other chairs. I'm just not so sure I want to eat on the floor!

Clooney

2008-10-08T13:44:00.004-04:00

Clooney is such a great dog and we are really enjoying him. The trainers at our obedience class call him "the perfect dog." The classes are just excellent. Our last one is next week and Aria and I have learned so much. Clooney is much calmer and happier and knows our routines now. He almost always comes when I call and knows "leave it," which are the two most important commands. He walks perfectly on a leash, can sit on command, and Aria and Elijah have taught him all sorts of tricks. Yesterday he bolted out the front door and chased down the UPS man. I think the poor guy was scared to death! Obviously we still have a little bit of work to do. :)

Clooney was lying on the couch and Elijah came along, woke him up and moved him over. Then Audra and Aria came and there was no room left on the couch. I think he was annoyed we were all disturbing his sleep. Poor dog! Well, the video tells the rest!

Obama

2008-10-03T22:04:00.002-04:00

This is Dan's doing. I think she is saying, "Mama." I have to admit that sometimes she does get the "O" in there though!