I don't have much to say today.
I saw this post and it blew me away, so to be inspired click here:
http://elliourgiftfromgod.blogspot.com/2012/03/xiaoyuns-chicks-for-children.html
Update, Hubby and his team was able to add chickens to the GFA My Campaign web page on Friday. The above blogger started one here:
https://www.mygfa.org/chicksforchildren/
If you use this link you will donate directly to her daughters desire to help 1 million families in India.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Fractions and the Kinetic Learner
Little Miss Sunshine was really struggling with fractions today. Now I don't know about you but Numerator's and Denominator's always, always, always confused me as a child. Which was which??? Now Singapore isn't even discussing the technical terms yet... it's just talking about parts of a whole. But I could see LMS getting mixed up as to which part went on top and which part went on the bottom. She's my box girl, she loves to categorize and stick things in the cubby holes of her brain. So I thought I'd give naming the top and bottom parts with the correct names, a try.
After a session with circles of paper, scissors, and Dividing whole pizzas into parts. I kept using a mnemonic " The Denominator is how many parts the whole pizza is Divided into." Then we named the top and bottom, I got out the chair and we played being the numerator or the Denominator. Note the use of Down with Denominator. She had a blast, she liked it so much she let me record her.
This is what the game looks like... later we'll be a fraction. To be a quarter she will jump up on top and say I'm one part of four, then jump down and say "Down here I have four parts" and like wise with other fractions. Doing this with motion really seems to make it stick with my kids.
I also used this Technique with Sweet Potato and she got Numerators and Denominators in one session.
Little Miss Sunshine says "I jump Down and I'm the Denominator." :-)
Little Miss Sunshine says "I jump Down and I'm the Denominator." :-)
Monday, March 12, 2012
Remembering Grandma
This weekend we cleaned out the garage. Found lots of junk the girls had saved. I opened a tote and found a bunch of art I had done in college, the girls were amazed.. Mom you drew that??? Oh my where have my creative juices gone. We also found photos of my grandma and grandpa on my mom's side. This always triggers Little Miss Sunshine into asking 100 questions about our family. She is very focused on knowing everything there is to know about family.
Hubby found an interview I had done of my Grandmother in 1998. Back then I read an article on how to do this and I decided hey what a great IDEA! She was in her 80's (I think) and still very lucid. I didn't realize at the time of the interview, all those long pauses... like when she mentioned a step father.. she gazes off into space and you can see she is editing. Nope won't say that, nope can't say that, nope won't talk about that pain.
So If you haven't interviewed your grand parents, great Aunts and Uncles, I highly recommend it. After grandma died, my father admitted to me he thought the whole interview was kinda silly at the time. But now he realizes how much information she gave. Every time she mentioned a name she spelled it, places and people, we carry our history around with us in our head. If we never get it out of our heads it dies with us.
So If you haven't interviewed your grand parents, great Aunts and Uncles, I highly recommend it. After grandma died, my father admitted to me he thought the whole interview was kinda silly at the time. But now he realizes how much information she gave. Every time she mentioned a name she spelled it, places and people, we carry our history around with us in our head. If we never get it out of our heads it dies with us.
Her history is pretty traumatic, her dad dies when she is 5 (run over by bootleggers). She had 9 siblings and was pulled out of school at age 16 so she could help pay the families bills with her work. Working 11-12 hour days! Didn't go to school till she was 7, which later I put 2 pieces of the puzzle together and realize from age 5-7 she was in charge of the family cow Bossie and she peddled the milk up and down the neighborhood. Mom eventually gets remarried and then the family story gets very sketchy. She said very little about her step father and what she did say was "None of us kids liked him, and we paid him to go away after mom died." Speaks volumes doesn't it?
My kids were of course floored, all those long hours of work, not being able to finish school because food needed to be paid for. Only getting paid 1$ a day, and she got 7$ a week which means she worked 7 days a week. I think some of it must have sunk in because on Saturday when they were given their payment for chores, both girls contributed to the "new to us car fund." A much better use for their money than stick on nail polish.
My grandma went to Catholic School where the nuns were "strict" and she learned to read, write, and do arithmetic. That opened up her ability to work and do far more jobs than if she had never learned to read. My grandma was not ignorant, and she lived a good long life. I would have never known my grandma didn't finish high school if she hadn't told me. She was an elegant woman with a whole lot of class.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Review: Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons
I'm planning on doing a series of blogs on literacy to promote My Campaign for Woman's Literacy I still haven't figured out how to make links look like links in this blog so that is why the tacky purple.
Its been a few years since I taught either of my children to read but somethings are burned into my memory. I started off with Sing Spell Read and Write, tried Bob books, Dr. Seuse, a few things of my own devising, none of which worked. One day when I was wishing to Mindy that I wanted to help her out in the ministries cafe. She leaned over in a sing song voice whispered in my ear "I'll teach your child to read if you come in and help me." I was so desperate I jumped at the chance. You know what is so amazing is 4 years later after Sweet Potato had been reading and reading words well, she was tested by her nuro therapist. Much to the therapists amazement Sweet Potato could read words at a 6th grade lvl but shouldn't be able too since her short term memory only held 3-4 bits of information, you need 5-6 to be able to read well.
Look at what dedication on Mindy's part and prayer on mine can do :-)
Mindy pulled out her handy dandy Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, and proceeded to train my daughter to read. She also taught me how to use to book. Now I had picked up this books at least 5 times but it totally mystified me. Why are there lines over letters? Why are their arrows under letters? It looked like a mess. What I had never bothered to do was read the introduction that explains exactly how the system works. DOH!
One thing Mindy taught me was to only do it for 15 minutes at a time. Yes the lessons are supposed to be timed for a 15 minute block, but lets face it I had a child with audio processing issues, Strabismus and visual processing issues. At the time her right eye was being used at like 20% and the glasses she wore blurred her left eye. She had a lot of road blocks to overcome. So if we only got 3 parts of the lesson done in 15 minutes we quit. (well some days she persisted because I bribed her with treats).
So I had to learn to let go of 1 lesson per day and face reality my child may need 1 lesson per week. That was harder than I thought it would be. I wish then I knew what I know now! That kids with these type of non nurotypical behaviors need to see something 400 times before it clicks. But then I'd have been trying to show it 400 times by showing it to her 10 times for 40 days.
Another thing that helped Sweet Potato is the fact they had 2 a's one with a line over the top and another that was all plain... One thing they do not teach right away is the names of the letters. I want to know who thought it was a good idea to name these letters does H sound like aech? no it sounds like huh. The book is correct in thinking teaching the names just confuses the child.
I saw this first hand when I had the opportunity to teach Little Miss Sunshine to read. She had never learned the alphabet names. It was no trouble to teach her the short and long sounds for the letters.
As a side note, she really struggled with blending, since Chinese is a pictorial language blending was not a concept she understood. A quick trip down Dick and Jane lane really helped. Just in case you don't know Dick and Jane teach whole word reading, and was a perfect bridge to her ability to sound out. Notice how the beauty of home schooling is you can tailor the work to the child. We were 5 weeks into 100 EZ lessons and still on lesson 3 when I brought out Dick and Jane. One week in Dick and Jane with EZ on the side and she had an epiphany over the word "see"
100 EZ lessons is a training tool. Did my kids love it? NO! Did it teach them to read YES! Sweet Potatoes ability to parse words is amazing. Al-tho she still struggles with comprehension, it all goes back to "How much can her short term memory hold?" It was an easy book to use and teaches in a systematic way. I did find I had to supplement vowels with Little Miss Sunshine as she still rushes through the work. Both of my children find pleasure in reading. Sweet Potato loves books of facts and biographies of real people, where as Little Miss Sunshine prefers mysteries and silly novels.
I have decided to do a My Campaign for Women's Literacy as a memorial to the fact My daughter can read! As I worked on reading with Sweet Potato, I often used to think if she was in India, she would be that girl that proves the belief "its pointless to teach girls." Her and my struggle over her reading was a long and arduous road. So click on my link and donate a few dollars :-) https://www.mygfa.org/gardenforsara/
and help us reach a woman who never had the opportunity to learn to read.
Its been a few years since I taught either of my children to read but somethings are burned into my memory. I started off with Sing Spell Read and Write, tried Bob books, Dr. Seuse, a few things of my own devising, none of which worked. One day when I was wishing to Mindy that I wanted to help her out in the ministries cafe. She leaned over in a sing song voice whispered in my ear "I'll teach your child to read if you come in and help me." I was so desperate I jumped at the chance. You know what is so amazing is 4 years later after Sweet Potato had been reading and reading words well, she was tested by her nuro therapist. Much to the therapists amazement Sweet Potato could read words at a 6th grade lvl but shouldn't be able too since her short term memory only held 3-4 bits of information, you need 5-6 to be able to read well.
Look at what dedication on Mindy's part and prayer on mine can do :-)
Mindy pulled out her handy dandy Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, and proceeded to train my daughter to read. She also taught me how to use to book. Now I had picked up this books at least 5 times but it totally mystified me. Why are there lines over letters? Why are their arrows under letters? It looked like a mess. What I had never bothered to do was read the introduction that explains exactly how the system works. DOH!
One thing Mindy taught me was to only do it for 15 minutes at a time. Yes the lessons are supposed to be timed for a 15 minute block, but lets face it I had a child with audio processing issues, Strabismus and visual processing issues. At the time her right eye was being used at like 20% and the glasses she wore blurred her left eye. She had a lot of road blocks to overcome. So if we only got 3 parts of the lesson done in 15 minutes we quit. (well some days she persisted because I bribed her with treats).
So I had to learn to let go of 1 lesson per day and face reality my child may need 1 lesson per week. That was harder than I thought it would be. I wish then I knew what I know now! That kids with these type of non nurotypical behaviors need to see something 400 times before it clicks. But then I'd have been trying to show it 400 times by showing it to her 10 times for 40 days.
Another thing that helped Sweet Potato is the fact they had 2 a's one with a line over the top and another that was all plain... One thing they do not teach right away is the names of the letters. I want to know who thought it was a good idea to name these letters does H sound like aech? no it sounds like huh. The book is correct in thinking teaching the names just confuses the child.
I saw this first hand when I had the opportunity to teach Little Miss Sunshine to read. She had never learned the alphabet names. It was no trouble to teach her the short and long sounds for the letters.
As a side note, she really struggled with blending, since Chinese is a pictorial language blending was not a concept she understood. A quick trip down Dick and Jane lane really helped. Just in case you don't know Dick and Jane teach whole word reading, and was a perfect bridge to her ability to sound out. Notice how the beauty of home schooling is you can tailor the work to the child. We were 5 weeks into 100 EZ lessons and still on lesson 3 when I brought out Dick and Jane. One week in Dick and Jane with EZ on the side and she had an epiphany over the word "see"
100 EZ lessons is a training tool. Did my kids love it? NO! Did it teach them to read YES! Sweet Potatoes ability to parse words is amazing. Al-tho she still struggles with comprehension, it all goes back to "How much can her short term memory hold?" It was an easy book to use and teaches in a systematic way. I did find I had to supplement vowels with Little Miss Sunshine as she still rushes through the work. Both of my children find pleasure in reading. Sweet Potato loves books of facts and biographies of real people, where as Little Miss Sunshine prefers mysteries and silly novels.
I have decided to do a My Campaign for Women's Literacy as a memorial to the fact My daughter can read! As I worked on reading with Sweet Potato, I often used to think if she was in India, she would be that girl that proves the belief "its pointless to teach girls." Her and my struggle over her reading was a long and arduous road. So click on my link and donate a few dollars :-) https://www.mygfa.org/gardenforsara/
and help us reach a woman who never had the opportunity to learn to read.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Reminiscing, My parents are cool...
Yesterday I was reading an article by the daughter of a leading feminist of our time. It made me think back to a conversation I had with my dad one fall day when I was in my teens. I was spouting the latest thing in Feminism. I think I was singing a perfume commercial remember that one?? I can bring home the bacon... fry it up in a pan... and never, never let you forget your a man.. cause I'm a women. Even tho I was quite the tom boy. I was the anything HE can do, I can do better, type girl. My dad challenged me with a statement, some thing along the line that; Feminism has done as much to hurt the cause of women as much as it has helped them, in fact it may make things worse for women in the long run.
Fast forward to about 10 years ago... it's raining, my newly adopted 2 year old is melting down in the grocery store. The store doors are not opening when you step on the mats and you have to open the door inward. I'm hanging on to a heavy awkward paper bag of bare necessities for dinner, since I had to abandon my cart due to child's meltdown. All I wanted to do is run home and hide.
A 30 something man is smugly waiting for me to exit the building. Can I open the door, hold on to my groceries and child who is out of control. Well after 3 minutes I managed to open the door and the man said "Thanks for opening the door" as he slips past me. I was horrified, to my chagrin I thought back to all those times I said to men who opened my door for me "I can do it myself!" Here I obviously needed help yet he waited... why because young ladies like myself had insulted manly chivalrous acts in the past. I totally deserved his treatment of me. Even if he had pushed the door open I would have had an easier time of it but he waited to watch my humiliation of dropping my groceries and loosing the grasp of my child.
This turns my thoughts to a post I saw on facebook in response to a plea for literacy for women in Asia. The persons point was if we educate women we take jobs away from men. I remember my mom stressing I needed to go to college so IF I didn't want to get married I didn't have too... IF my husband was a poor provider, became disabled or dead, I could be the primary wage earner. IF I wanted to work I could... I could be the captain of my "Employment Ship." Now I'm totally content to stay at home with my children. It's not like, I'm not working. To replace my services to our family would run in the 90k range per year, or so says a book my sister in law sent me. :-) So I know I'm contributing to the family in a very real way.
I firmly believe in the LITERACY PROGRAM at GFA. I really feel educating the mother helps the sons and daughters be more educated. A more educated population, hopefully makes better choices in the long run. (I can't ever forget the viewpoint of our driver in India who firmly believed cleft pallets were due to the baby being born during the full moon.) When I think of how widows are seen as a curse on many Asian societies, giving them tools is essential for survival and the success of their children. Is it feminism to believe in the education of women? I suppose on some level it is. I think that turning women into men is an extreme form of feminism. I can see how men and woman have hugely different strengths and weaknesses. As Rocky says "I got gaps she's got gaps together we ain't got no gaps."
I sometimes worry about our society where fathers have become unnecessary. Not around here!!! Who would put the kiddos to bed at night???? So here is a big Thank You Dad! for challenging me to think outside the box society was building around me. Not to mention a Huge Thank You to Mom! for helping me to look to my future, you didn't let me grow up ignorant.
Fast forward to about 10 years ago... it's raining, my newly adopted 2 year old is melting down in the grocery store. The store doors are not opening when you step on the mats and you have to open the door inward. I'm hanging on to a heavy awkward paper bag of bare necessities for dinner, since I had to abandon my cart due to child's meltdown. All I wanted to do is run home and hide.
A 30 something man is smugly waiting for me to exit the building. Can I open the door, hold on to my groceries and child who is out of control. Well after 3 minutes I managed to open the door and the man said "Thanks for opening the door" as he slips past me. I was horrified, to my chagrin I thought back to all those times I said to men who opened my door for me "I can do it myself!" Here I obviously needed help yet he waited... why because young ladies like myself had insulted manly chivalrous acts in the past. I totally deserved his treatment of me. Even if he had pushed the door open I would have had an easier time of it but he waited to watch my humiliation of dropping my groceries and loosing the grasp of my child.
This turns my thoughts to a post I saw on facebook in response to a plea for literacy for women in Asia. The persons point was if we educate women we take jobs away from men. I remember my mom stressing I needed to go to college so IF I didn't want to get married I didn't have too... IF my husband was a poor provider, became disabled or dead, I could be the primary wage earner. IF I wanted to work I could... I could be the captain of my "Employment Ship." Now I'm totally content to stay at home with my children. It's not like, I'm not working. To replace my services to our family would run in the 90k range per year, or so says a book my sister in law sent me. :-) So I know I'm contributing to the family in a very real way.
I firmly believe in the LITERACY PROGRAM at GFA. I really feel educating the mother helps the sons and daughters be more educated. A more educated population, hopefully makes better choices in the long run. (I can't ever forget the viewpoint of our driver in India who firmly believed cleft pallets were due to the baby being born during the full moon.) When I think of how widows are seen as a curse on many Asian societies, giving them tools is essential for survival and the success of their children. Is it feminism to believe in the education of women? I suppose on some level it is. I think that turning women into men is an extreme form of feminism. I can see how men and woman have hugely different strengths and weaknesses. As Rocky says "I got gaps she's got gaps together we ain't got no gaps."
I sometimes worry about our society where fathers have become unnecessary. Not around here!!! Who would put the kiddos to bed at night???? So here is a big Thank You Dad! for challenging me to think outside the box society was building around me. Not to mention a Huge Thank You to Mom! for helping me to look to my future, you didn't let me grow up ignorant.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Keeping On Track
So this weekend we had the opportunity to go to Glen Rose and stay at our favorite place The Country Woods Inn. I love the off season because it is so quiet. :-) It was nice being able to say yes over, and over again to my kids. Yes, you can run ahead. Yes, you can play on the rocks. Yes, we can take a picnic, because look, here is a picnic basket in our cabin. Yes, you can feed the rabbits.
Little Miss Sunshine now wants rabbits again. I thought I dodged that bullet. Ever since the demise of 3 mice and much grieving over them. I though she had assimilated the formula Predators + Prey = Death. I guess since her friend is having a success at keeping the dogs from killing her rabbit LMS thinks she will succeed as well.
So as per usually Google maps got us lost on the way back from Glen Rose. I mean I've made this trip at least 10 times but yet I think I take a new way home every time. Ahh, well in the future I'll have all these alternate routes if I'm ever stuck in traffic.. Right? It was funny I looked at My Knight in Shining Armor and said I really think we should invest in a Garmin. His response Oh I have one So and So gave me his old one. picture my jaw dropping to floor of vehicle while I'm thinking"And why is it not plugged in right now???"
So my 2 kiddos on their own volition doubled up on school this week so as to get it all out of the way, since they had Monday as a vacation day. Picture me doing a double take... Al tho it took Sweet Potato till 6pm on Tuesday, to finish her work she still did 2 days of work in that day. Yesterday she volunteered to help make dinner... Who is this child??? and can I keep her? I'm kinda stunned...
Normally when there is work to be done she runs off to the bathroom. (Ok who else is adult enough to admit they did this too as a child *raises hand*) I know why she does it but it is very unusual for her to ask for work to do.
I'm glad to say the kiddos are on track for a May finish date of school possibly even mid April for Little Miss Sunshine. So often were struggling to stay on track and drop things like art, and poetry. I'm so glad this year I'm staying on track. Much of it has to do with the more independent nature of the work in Preparing and CTC. I'm spending less time than I used too in "teaching" and more time helping "research." LMS loves math so much that she has stopped waiting for me and instead tackles it on her own. If she can't do it herself she waits, but half the time I come in to explain it and shes done, and done correctly I might add. Lately she has been doing her grammar first thing, it was so well done I thought maybe just maybe she is copying the teachers manual. So I move that book to my bed room... Nope her work is perfect as ever.
I totally need that teachers manual to grade the work too. I have been learning so much about grammar through how to diagram sentences. Wow why couldn't they have taught me this when i was in school! I can see how adverbs and adjectives work for the first time in my life. And the proper use of "Quotes." which I totally abuse. :-P
Little Miss Sunshine now wants rabbits again. I thought I dodged that bullet. Ever since the demise of 3 mice and much grieving over them. I though she had assimilated the formula Predators + Prey = Death. I guess since her friend is having a success at keeping the dogs from killing her rabbit LMS thinks she will succeed as well.
So as per usually Google maps got us lost on the way back from Glen Rose. I mean I've made this trip at least 10 times but yet I think I take a new way home every time. Ahh, well in the future I'll have all these alternate routes if I'm ever stuck in traffic.. Right? It was funny I looked at My Knight in Shining Armor and said I really think we should invest in a Garmin. His response Oh I have one So and So gave me his old one. picture my jaw dropping to floor of vehicle while I'm thinking"And why is it not plugged in right now???"
So my 2 kiddos on their own volition doubled up on school this week so as to get it all out of the way, since they had Monday as a vacation day. Picture me doing a double take... Al tho it took Sweet Potato till 6pm on Tuesday, to finish her work she still did 2 days of work in that day. Yesterday she volunteered to help make dinner... Who is this child??? and can I keep her? I'm kinda stunned...
Normally when there is work to be done she runs off to the bathroom. (Ok who else is adult enough to admit they did this too as a child *raises hand*) I know why she does it but it is very unusual for her to ask for work to do.
I'm glad to say the kiddos are on track for a May finish date of school possibly even mid April for Little Miss Sunshine. So often were struggling to stay on track and drop things like art, and poetry. I'm so glad this year I'm staying on track. Much of it has to do with the more independent nature of the work in Preparing and CTC. I'm spending less time than I used too in "teaching" and more time helping "research." LMS loves math so much that she has stopped waiting for me and instead tackles it on her own. If she can't do it herself she waits, but half the time I come in to explain it and shes done, and done correctly I might add. Lately she has been doing her grammar first thing, it was so well done I thought maybe just maybe she is copying the teachers manual. So I move that book to my bed room... Nope her work is perfect as ever.
I totally need that teachers manual to grade the work too. I have been learning so much about grammar through how to diagram sentences. Wow why couldn't they have taught me this when i was in school! I can see how adverbs and adjectives work for the first time in my life. And the proper use of "Quotes." which I totally abuse. :-P
Thursday, February 23, 2012
My Favorite Pot Roast
So this is not a vegan meal, I'll just say that up front.
I've been making this pot roast since Cooks Illustrated wrote an article on slow cooking meat and what happens.
I buy as much meat as I can afford for this meal because no matter how much I buy its never enough. The key to this meal is LOW and SLOW. I used to make it in the oven but my slow cooker (like a crock pot) makes this fantabuliuos. I know its not a word. :-) The good news is you can buy a really cheap cut and it ends up melting in your mouth perfection. This is also a great meal for kids with oral sensory issues. The meat is so soft it doesn't' even get caught in Sweet Potatoes braces. It's also a phase 2 meal (with cheating for those who cheat on SBP Diet ) I know I know you shouldn't, but pot roast without potatoes... I just can't do it...
so here is the basics
a cut of meat that will feed your family I'd go for 2 servings each.
10 small salt potatoes (do not cut! leave whole so they don't "contaminate" the rest of the food).
4-5 peeled carrots chopped in 1 inch pieces
5-8 stalks of celery chopped in 1 inch pieces
1 white onion chopped in 1 inch pieces
Using Olive oil sear the meat on all sides.
Place in crock pot / slow cooker or an oven pot with a tight fitting lid.
Toss in all the carrots, celery, onion.
Put the potatoes on top and off to the side.
add water 3/4 up the side of the meat.
Cook for a minimum of 6 hours at 300 degrees F. or mark 3 for a slow cooker or medium heat for a crock pot. After 6 hours you can tun it down to low. I like to start mine at 9 or 10 am and let it cook until 6 pm.
serve au jus If your not doing SBP then you can make gravy with corn starch, if your on phase 3 you can use tapioca flour to thicken the jus.
Don't serve the taters to Your SBP target.
We like to eat it in bowls.
Enjoy
I've been making this pot roast since Cooks Illustrated wrote an article on slow cooking meat and what happens.
I buy as much meat as I can afford for this meal because no matter how much I buy its never enough. The key to this meal is LOW and SLOW. I used to make it in the oven but my slow cooker (like a crock pot) makes this fantabuliuos. I know its not a word. :-) The good news is you can buy a really cheap cut and it ends up melting in your mouth perfection. This is also a great meal for kids with oral sensory issues. The meat is so soft it doesn't' even get caught in Sweet Potatoes braces. It's also a phase 2 meal (with cheating for those who cheat on SBP Diet ) I know I know you shouldn't, but pot roast without potatoes... I just can't do it...
so here is the basics
a cut of meat that will feed your family I'd go for 2 servings each.
10 small salt potatoes (do not cut! leave whole so they don't "contaminate" the rest of the food).
4-5 peeled carrots chopped in 1 inch pieces
5-8 stalks of celery chopped in 1 inch pieces
1 white onion chopped in 1 inch pieces
Using Olive oil sear the meat on all sides.
Place in crock pot / slow cooker or an oven pot with a tight fitting lid.
Toss in all the carrots, celery, onion.
Put the potatoes on top and off to the side.
add water 3/4 up the side of the meat.
Cook for a minimum of 6 hours at 300 degrees F. or mark 3 for a slow cooker or medium heat for a crock pot. After 6 hours you can tun it down to low. I like to start mine at 9 or 10 am and let it cook until 6 pm.
serve au jus If your not doing SBP then you can make gravy with corn starch, if your on phase 3 you can use tapioca flour to thicken the jus.
Don't serve the taters to Your SBP target.
We like to eat it in bowls.
Enjoy
Monday, February 20, 2012
Practicing the change in tactics... saying Yes
I practiced saying yes today, I did notice a huge upswing in Sweet Potato's mood too.
Mom can I have some chips?
Yes as long as you drink 2 glasses of water.
Mom will you play a game with me?
Yes, let's play In a Pickle till someone gets 3 tricks. (see how I saved myself from a 3 hour game of Monopoly.)
Mom can I have a cookie?
Yes, after you finish your orange.
Mom can I play Computer?
No baby, it's not here, but you can play DSI for 20 minutes. Turned it into a yes... :-)
Mama's been feeling yucky today so Sweet Potato did take advantage of that to hide in her room and play DSI for an hour. Normally I'd be all freaked out by the screen time effecting her brain ahhhhhh she's loosing brain cells... but since my modus operandi for Mama sick days is to plunk them in front of Qubo and hope their brain's don't fry.. I figured why have a hissy fit? I got a nap and quiet time and a shower! SCORE! Her sister was practicing piano and I didn't hear the timer go off either. I actually could see how she could truly have not heard it go off. Her school was done (mostly), she had baby sat for part of her school time too (woo hoo acts of service yeah!).
So I just pointed out she was over time and as long as the undone chores got done ASAP, I'd not toss any penalty flags. She almost fainted when I did that... the look on her face said "Mom are you feeling ok?" well actually child I feel really yucky... so no I'm not feeling ok. LOL
She said "Sure mom right away." and then happily ran out to pick up dog poo... Little Miss Sunshine was as mystified as me in Sweet Potato's happy attitude toward poo patrol. "Mom this is not normal." was heard to come out of her mouth...
I passed them by later while they were playing piano and tickled both of them... Little Miss Sunshine laughed.. Sweet Potato said Ow ow ow ow... then she laughed.
I'm like "Oh sorry did I hurt you?"
SP: no Mom....
Why did you say Ow?
SP: I don't know...
Mom: can I do a redo?
SP: Yes please *Giggling* then I tickled them both again and they both laughed.
Lets see how this journey goes forward... but boy that In a Pickle game took it out of me... not!!
Mom can I have some chips?
Yes as long as you drink 2 glasses of water.
Mom will you play a game with me?
Yes, let's play In a Pickle till someone gets 3 tricks. (see how I saved myself from a 3 hour game of Monopoly.)
Mom can I have a cookie?
Yes, after you finish your orange.
Mom can I play Computer?
No baby, it's not here, but you can play DSI for 20 minutes. Turned it into a yes... :-)
Mama's been feeling yucky today so Sweet Potato did take advantage of that to hide in her room and play DSI for an hour. Normally I'd be all freaked out by the screen time effecting her brain ahhhhhh she's loosing brain cells... but since my modus operandi for Mama sick days is to plunk them in front of Qubo and hope their brain's don't fry.. I figured why have a hissy fit? I got a nap and quiet time and a shower! SCORE! Her sister was practicing piano and I didn't hear the timer go off either. I actually could see how she could truly have not heard it go off. Her school was done (mostly), she had baby sat for part of her school time too (woo hoo acts of service yeah!).
So I just pointed out she was over time and as long as the undone chores got done ASAP, I'd not toss any penalty flags. She almost fainted when I did that... the look on her face said "Mom are you feeling ok?" well actually child I feel really yucky... so no I'm not feeling ok. LOL
She said "Sure mom right away." and then happily ran out to pick up dog poo... Little Miss Sunshine was as mystified as me in Sweet Potato's happy attitude toward poo patrol. "Mom this is not normal." was heard to come out of her mouth...
I passed them by later while they were playing piano and tickled both of them... Little Miss Sunshine laughed.. Sweet Potato said Ow ow ow ow... then she laughed.
I'm like "Oh sorry did I hurt you?"
SP: no Mom....
Why did you say Ow?
SP: I don't know...
Mom: can I do a redo?
SP: Yes please *Giggling* then I tickled them both again and they both laughed.
Lets see how this journey goes forward... but boy that In a Pickle game took it out of me... not!!
Sunday, February 19, 2012
A change of tactics
Many nights Sweet Potato talks to the wall. Since I've been known to model this behavior I'm not surprised.. OH wait did it just tell you all I talk to the wall... himm I guess I did oopsie! Shhhhh don't tell anyone... Only thing is, she talks, and talks, and talks, and her sister can't sleep. She is keeping her self awake and that can lead to over tiredness and a less than optimal night of sleep, followed by a less than optimal day.
Many Many times I have asked her to stop talking and go to sleep, sad to say it continued. The nigh time talking has even been known to escalate when desisting has been requested. I've been know to sneak up on the door and say "Ah ha caught you talking when you are supposed to be sleeping!" and when its so loud I can hear it in the other room, I've been known to get annoyed...
Yelling "Child I CAN HEAR YOU! " from the living room is probably not my best choice of parenting styles for an auditory processing challenged child. Have I mentioned recently I'm not perfect... :-P
So Saturday night I tried a completely new tactic. I walked in willing to sacrifice my time and let her stay up if that is what she needed. Sat on her bed and said "Do you need someone too talk to Sweet Potato?" She didn't. She did tell me she was just going over all the things she had done that day. So I talked to her any way about all the fun exciting things she got to do that day with Aunti R. We're talking Hair straightening and Nail polish and Movies woo hoo... Not at all my idea of an exciting day but hey I'm not 12 either... I rubbed her back (her favorite) and then asked what I could do to help her be quiet enough to fall asleep, since she didn't need a person to talk to.
"Mom can I have the Steven Green songs on?" Of course Sweetie.
Woo hooo that only took 5 minutes and quiet fell over the room. Till she started snoring he he he ... Now if every night could be that easy.
Many Many times I have asked her to stop talking and go to sleep, sad to say it continued. The nigh time talking has even been known to escalate when desisting has been requested. I've been know to sneak up on the door and say "Ah ha caught you talking when you are supposed to be sleeping!" and when its so loud I can hear it in the other room, I've been known to get annoyed...
Yelling "Child I CAN HEAR YOU! " from the living room is probably not my best choice of parenting styles for an auditory processing challenged child. Have I mentioned recently I'm not perfect... :-P
So Saturday night I tried a completely new tactic. I walked in willing to sacrifice my time and let her stay up if that is what she needed. Sat on her bed and said "Do you need someone too talk to Sweet Potato?" She didn't. She did tell me she was just going over all the things she had done that day. So I talked to her any way about all the fun exciting things she got to do that day with Aunti R. We're talking Hair straightening and Nail polish and Movies woo hoo... Not at all my idea of an exciting day but hey I'm not 12 either... I rubbed her back (her favorite) and then asked what I could do to help her be quiet enough to fall asleep, since she didn't need a person to talk to.
"Mom can I have the Steven Green songs on?" Of course Sweetie.
Woo hooo that only took 5 minutes and quiet fell over the room. Till she started snoring he he he ... Now if every night could be that easy.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Empowered to Connect
I love how Karen ended the conference today. The last words were so encouraging. She was answering questions that had been submitted and apparently lots of parents were feeling less than their best (I know I certainly was). A whole pile of question cards were about how as parents we have messed up our kids and done everything wrong in our parenting style. Have we destroyed our children for ever?
Karen answered with "Unless you are a parent of a child less than 72 hours old, or alien spawn. You have made mistakes parenting. Welcome to the human race." That put a smile on my face and brought back perspective. She continued with, how asking forgiveness and admitting your at fault with your child will put $1,000,000.00 into your child's trust bank, and talked about how scar tissue is stronger when it has healed.
So often as adoptive parents we hear from those who think they know our situation: "Love is enough,"
"Once he knows he's a Jones he will settle down."
"She will forget her difficulties/past/birth parents and be ok now."
"You need to put your child's past behind them."
"You would think things that happened when she was 1, she would be over now that she is 12."
I love how Karen deals with this ideology.... If your birth child had been kidnapped for 2 years and then after you had spent thousands and thousands of dollars to find them, and they are returned to you... How would you view them? As parents we need to remember any separation from birth parent is Trauma to a child. If we can hold on to the compassion we would have for a child that had experienced kidnapping, we will do well.
In doing so, we as adoptive parents have to be fully invested above and beyond the birth parent model. The high nurture and high structure model is not for wimps. Birth parenting books will not always help a child who's age is 8 but the behavior displayed is 4. I can't tell you how many times I told my Sweet Potato at age 8 to "act your age." I was so frustrated and really down on myself as a parent. Constant embarrassment because your child is not acting "normal" does that to you.
Today was full of highs and lows as I could see all the things I was doing right in my parenting, therapy and realizing Sweet Potato has made huge leaps since age 8. We have the train moving in the right direction. Seeing my failures and areas I need to improve in, like how often I derail the train because her trust bank with me is not as high as it needs to be.
Ahh well I'm the "big" person in this equation and I can handle it right? :-)
Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
I need to not forget this is a Journey we are on that will last until I see heaven. We will never arrive at "fixed" just as no child birthed or adopted is ever "fixed" by their parents. I need to enjoy the trip.
Karen answered with "Unless you are a parent of a child less than 72 hours old, or alien spawn. You have made mistakes parenting. Welcome to the human race." That put a smile on my face and brought back perspective. She continued with, how asking forgiveness and admitting your at fault with your child will put $1,000,000.00 into your child's trust bank, and talked about how scar tissue is stronger when it has healed.
So often as adoptive parents we hear from those who think they know our situation: "Love is enough,"
"Once he knows he's a Jones he will settle down."
"She will forget her difficulties/past/birth parents and be ok now."
"You need to put your child's past behind them."
"You would think things that happened when she was 1, she would be over now that she is 12."
I love how Karen deals with this ideology.... If your birth child had been kidnapped for 2 years and then after you had spent thousands and thousands of dollars to find them, and they are returned to you... How would you view them? As parents we need to remember any separation from birth parent is Trauma to a child. If we can hold on to the compassion we would have for a child that had experienced kidnapping, we will do well.
In doing so, we as adoptive parents have to be fully invested above and beyond the birth parent model. The high nurture and high structure model is not for wimps. Birth parenting books will not always help a child who's age is 8 but the behavior displayed is 4. I can't tell you how many times I told my Sweet Potato at age 8 to "act your age." I was so frustrated and really down on myself as a parent. Constant embarrassment because your child is not acting "normal" does that to you.
Today was full of highs and lows as I could see all the things I was doing right in my parenting, therapy and realizing Sweet Potato has made huge leaps since age 8. We have the train moving in the right direction. Seeing my failures and areas I need to improve in, like how often I derail the train because her trust bank with me is not as high as it needs to be.
Ahh well I'm the "big" person in this equation and I can handle it right? :-)
Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
I need to not forget this is a Journey we are on that will last until I see heaven. We will never arrive at "fixed" just as no child birthed or adopted is ever "fixed" by their parents. I need to enjoy the trip.
Friday, February 17, 2012
You Can Never Have Enough Socks
So a few years ago when Sweet Potato went to school, getting her ready for the car pool was always a challenge. Why you ask?? Because she never had any socks. Now as a Rocky Mom I really didn't care if she wore socks or not. Apparently teachers especially Gym teachers expected socks on my child's feet. Mom was getting notes that her kid was not dressed properly and needed to wear socks or stockings everyday.
I wondered if the washer was eating the socks... Or maybe the sock angel was redeeming them for heaven... Alas I could not find a single matching pair. So I bought a bunch of the same colored socks... suddenly I was down to 3 pairs. Searching the room I came up empty handed, no matching socks to be found anywhere!!
Trying to get out the door in the morning was a battle field, "BUT MOM I can't go without socks!! I can't find any, I can't wear one green and one pink..." Oh the horror!!! IT was pretty exasperating. Dad is fuming,everyone is leaving angry, every morning and why?? Because of Socks!!! SERIOUSLY???
I finally thought "this is nuts" the peace of the family is daily disrupted when Mom is at her most groggy over lost shoes and no socks...
Enter the Sock Fairy... she comes at night and finds the shoes hidden under the couch, in the kitchen, under the TV or Wow in the closet (who knew she knew how to put them away!), and every morning a bright shining new pair of socks (bought in bulk at Big Lots very cheaply) laid on the shoes.
After a while I found out through my secret sources that she was purposefully throwing away one sock of each pair just so she could delay the inevitable. I really wish she had just talked to me about the bullying at school. the real reason behind this tactic
Eventually the Sock Fairy no longer needed to come anymore, the bullying, changes in her diet and a math program that only confused my daughter were the root causes of me pulling her from school and bringing her back to home schooling. I so wished she had spoken up sooner so the horribleness at school could have been addressed sooner. But that trust base was still lacking.
Now we don't need a sock fairy and I'm so glad to see my child working on long division at home with me.
I wondered if the washer was eating the socks... Or maybe the sock angel was redeeming them for heaven... Alas I could not find a single matching pair. So I bought a bunch of the same colored socks... suddenly I was down to 3 pairs. Searching the room I came up empty handed, no matching socks to be found anywhere!!
Trying to get out the door in the morning was a battle field, "BUT MOM I can't go without socks!! I can't find any, I can't wear one green and one pink..." Oh the horror!!! IT was pretty exasperating. Dad is fuming,everyone is leaving angry, every morning and why?? Because of Socks!!! SERIOUSLY???
I finally thought "this is nuts" the peace of the family is daily disrupted when Mom is at her most groggy over lost shoes and no socks...
Enter the Sock Fairy... she comes at night and finds the shoes hidden under the couch, in the kitchen, under the TV or Wow in the closet (who knew she knew how to put them away!), and every morning a bright shining new pair of socks (bought in bulk at Big Lots very cheaply) laid on the shoes.
After a while I found out through my secret sources that she was purposefully throwing away one sock of each pair just so she could delay the inevitable. I really wish she had just talked to me about the bullying at school. the real reason behind this tactic
Eventually the Sock Fairy no longer needed to come anymore, the bullying, changes in her diet and a math program that only confused my daughter were the root causes of me pulling her from school and bringing her back to home schooling. I so wished she had spoken up sooner so the horribleness at school could have been addressed sooner. But that trust base was still lacking.
Now we don't need a sock fairy and I'm so glad to see my child working on long division at home with me.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Adoption is Not Second Best.
I really think so many people in our society see adoption as
second best. Yes, many families come to
adoption because they cannot have children of their own, but when you look at
the overall picture you see many people choose it for a huge variety of
reasons. In a training session we once experienced
there were 5 couples each and every one of them had a unique reason. Only one of them was “We can’t have kids so
were adopting”… ya that would be me… but since it was our second adoption it’s
not like I didn’t have a child of my own.
For example the Korean couple… the wife had been adopted and
wanted to adopt because she had been.
The parents of 6 children were choosing adoption, so they could open their home to a child who had no home.
One couple felt led that this was God’s plan for building their family.
A Single woman had never gotten married and wanted to have a family, so she choose adoption and single parenting.
Those are just the ones that sick out in my mind, every family has a unique reason for adopting. In each of the above examples I do not see the choice of choosing adoption as second best. It was not the choice you have left when all other choices are gone… Yes many couples spend huge amounts of money each year on infertility treatment to: “Have a child of their own.” They may turn to adoption as a last resort but so few people actually adopt. It's some thing like 2% of the population who adopts, yet 25% of our population is infertile so its got to be a small percentage.
The parents of 6 children were choosing adoption, so they could open their home to a child who had no home.
One couple felt led that this was God’s plan for building their family.
A Single woman had never gotten married and wanted to have a family, so she choose adoption and single parenting.
Those are just the ones that sick out in my mind, every family has a unique reason for adopting. In each of the above examples I do not see the choice of choosing adoption as second best. It was not the choice you have left when all other choices are gone… Yes many couples spend huge amounts of money each year on infertility treatment to: “Have a child of their own.” They may turn to adoption as a last resort but so few people actually adopt. It's some thing like 2% of the population who adopts, yet 25% of our population is infertile so its got to be a small percentage.
I’m so glad our journey down that path was truncated. Early
on we knew DNA children were not possible.
Did we then just jump into adoption.. well we tried but God put us off.
He had a plan, with so many millions of children with no parents or permanently
separated from their parents. How hard
could it be to nudge us in the direction He had for us when we were actively seeking His plan.
Tonight a friend of mine ranted because a store clerk put
her foot in in her mouth and couldn’t believe this dark brown baby was the child of a light brown woman . When Mom told
her “Well he’s adopted. “ The clerk’s opened mouth and she inserted her whole
leg. (From what I heard anyway) Suddenly this clerk needed to know baby's whole life story. Hello!!!! our children are not freak shows, really I just brought my kid out for your entertainment!!!! I used to try to educated people about the do
and don’ts of adoption. Lets face it most people don’t want to be taught the right thing
to do, they just want to hear the gory details and satisfy their curiosity. Early on in the conversation this clerk hoped my friend “Would
have kids of her own soon.” Really you say that in front of an impressionable
child??? Hello!!! What was she thinking??? maybe after adopting.... the baby fairy rewards you for being good... and you can now have real family????
Adopt: 1. to choose or take as one's own; make one's own by selection or assent: 2. to take
and rear (the child of other parents) as one's own child, specifically by a formal legal act.
and rear (the child of other parents) as one's own child, specifically by a formal legal act.
Conclusion: to adopt is to make your own.
On Friday night I was asked for the umpteenth time,
if I felt the same about my kids as I would about my own. (Can you picture me banging my head against the
table) “Er um they are my own.” I replied. Why do so many people think love isn’t
thicker than DNA?
I’ll let you in on a little secret, one of the factors
in who, gets whom, is spark… When we got photos of Sweet Potato, my husband
thought she was THE MOST ADORABLE baby in the whole wide world. He sparked… he looked at the photo and knew,
he just knew, this was his daughter…
When I got photos of Little Miss Sunshine it was
like a bomb went off in my heart. I didn’t
fall in love with her, I suddenly realized this WAS MY LITTLE GIRL. Just like that, she was mine.
We could have waited for other children. In fact a few years earlier we had gotten photos of a special needs boy (possible hearing problems in the future) yet we sent him back. Not because of the hearing problems (I speak some sign language). There was just no spark. (Don’t worry five other families had applied to adopt him.) The lady at the agency just didn't want us out of the running, because we had a good foundation for this little guy. But when I said “I just don’t think he is ours.” she said “Yeah I get that.”
We could have waited for other children. In fact a few years earlier we had gotten photos of a special needs boy (possible hearing problems in the future) yet we sent him back. Not because of the hearing problems (I speak some sign language). There was just no spark. (Don’t worry five other families had applied to adopt him.) The lady at the agency just didn't want us out of the running, because we had a good foundation for this little guy. But when I said “I just don’t think he is ours.” she said “Yeah I get that.”
I know part of the curiosity of adoption and
orphans is most people have no realistic contact with it… our culture continually tosses
up characters in books as real people.
Oliver Twist, Anne of Green Gables, Little Orphan Anne, heck even Harry
Potter is an orphan tho never adopted. Seriously people! These are not “Real” humans but rather 2 dimensional
versions of humanity. I think peoples expectations are warped by these stories. Rather than feel compassion or acceptance; instead they just look to assuage their curiosity.
Adoptees feel stigmatized, second best, and out of place already, and to top it all off almost every time they go out with mom and dad, someone asks “Are your parents REAL?”
Adoptees feel stigmatized, second best, and out of place already, and to top it all off almost every time they go out with mom and dad, someone asks “Are your parents REAL?”
Take a moment and think, what message they are sending
with those words… Himm the child may think wow if my parents aren’t real then I’m
not really what they wanted…. I am a second choice, what was left over, the
last to be chosen for the family team. Can you picture feeling that way every time
you went out for dinner? Think about it.
Now think about the parent who continually hears they are not Real... its more than just the child that is getting distressed here. After a few years you get numb to most of it.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
gluten free cookies :-)
Ok I been messing around with some Phase Three cookies for Christmas
This is a very delicate cookie so be gentle :-) it's a modification of my families polish cookies.
Makes about 15 cookies.
Filling 1: Pit about 4 dates and pull in half.
Filling 2:
4 dried apricots (ok I cheated and used sulphured one cause they are prettier for the photo we were out I had to use the old ones )
1 tablespoon of hot water
1 table spoon of honey.
Soak Apricots in hot water till softened.
Blend in a blender with honey, till you get a filling like consistency. Crystallized honey works best! so this years crop of drought honey was perfect.
Cookie Dough:
2 tablespoons of Cream cheese
3/4 stick of butter
1 cup tapioca flour (also know as powder)
Parchment paper is almost a necessity!
Using a pastry blender mix the cream cheese butter and tapioca flour till it its crumbly and looks like pie crust. Then using your hands press it together. It is a very soft dough. Then follow the photos below.
Normally you would role the dough out into powdered sugar (a NO NO), so we will skip that step. I found it was firm enough to shape it by hand.
After 18 minutes in the oven at 350 degrees F. I decide to pull them out. I cooled them outside. Cool before you try to remove them from the paper. They get very hot! and will fall apart.
You could try a higher temperature for a shorter cooking time. They ended up being a flaky and soft cookie.
Even tho these cookies have no sugar in them Sweet Potato declared them to be sweet! I found them very yummy. Please note they are very very delicate, crumble and melt in your mouth calorie bombs. So let the SBP target eat most of them!
This is a very delicate cookie so be gentle :-) it's a modification of my families polish cookies.
Makes about 15 cookies.
Filling 1: Pit about 4 dates and pull in half.
Filling 2:
4 dried apricots (ok I cheated and used sulphured one cause they are prettier for the photo we were out I had to use the old ones )
1 tablespoon of hot water
1 table spoon of honey.
Soak Apricots in hot water till softened.
Blend in a blender with honey, till you get a filling like consistency. Crystallized honey works best! so this years crop of drought honey was perfect.
Cookie Dough:
2 tablespoons of Cream cheese
3/4 stick of butter
1 cup tapioca flour (also know as powder)
Parchment paper is almost a necessity!
Using a pastry blender mix the cream cheese butter and tapioca flour till it its crumbly and looks like pie crust. Then using your hands press it together. It is a very soft dough. Then follow the photos below.
Normally you would role the dough out into powdered sugar (a NO NO), so we will skip that step. I found it was firm enough to shape it by hand.
 |
| Using about a scant tablespoon shape them into squares |
 |
| make the square by gently forming it |
 |
| Now its ready for a filling |
 |
| Add a scant half teaspoon full of filling |
 |
| Add then press opposite edges of dough together. |
 |
| You can do the same thing with dates. |
 |
| use half a date a whole one is to much |
 |
| The dough is very delicate but easily pushed back into shape |
 |
| This is how many cookies I got. They do not brown up. |
You could try a higher temperature for a shorter cooking time. They ended up being a flaky and soft cookie.
Even tho these cookies have no sugar in them Sweet Potato declared them to be sweet! I found them very yummy. Please note they are very very delicate, crumble and melt in your mouth calorie bombs. So let the SBP target eat most of them!
Monday, December 19, 2011
Water Buffalo Update
Well my last post was about Little Miss Sunshine's' project of getting a water buffalo for Christmas. Its a beta testing program For GFA's Web Team. I can say it was successful! We found a few bugs, and got feedback and A water buffalo has been secured for a family in India. Woo hoo!!! Everyone Wants a Water Buffalo
On another note the kiddos are being themselves, were doing home school lite... Which means I'm checking work as I prep meals for the ministry and bake cookies. All but my Christmas cards are done. Woo hoo! Only a few presents to wrap and its all finished.
Just in time too, as Sweet Potato has been cheating with her meds. *SIGH* Now she is sick and running a fever. Ugh I'd hate to be in her shoes. Medication night and day, Doctors are mystified as to the cause, thus no answers just medication, and The Vest, to ease the symptoms. I hate it when she decided shes right and I'm wrong because what I said didn't happen immediately. No you cannot chew your medication! It will hurt your body... So she chews her medication. "My body isn't in pain, so you must be wrong Mom." Sigh... Picture me banging my head against the wall. She doesn't even believe the nurse on the phone. I had to switch it back to the neti pot which does the same thing as the medication just in a much more gross way.
Then I see posts on Neti pots that use tap water, giving people brain eating amoebae. *LOVELY!* Now I always use the reverse osmosis water because the amount of "dead" mold spores in the local water makes my allergy's worse. I know occasionally Sweet Potato doesn't, instead she pushes the easy button and uses tap water. So now I have one more thing to be paranoid about. NO MORE TAP WATER!! even tho we don't live in Louisiana.
I had a talk with her today about when you don't take your nose medication your nose itches. (then you rub it, and never wash your hands, and the family is all ewww gross!!!) When you fake taking your inhaler; your lungs hurt. Taking medication isn't fun; but not taking it, is worse. The Orthodontics nurse had to talk with me on the condition of her teeth, as in she isn't brushing well enough either.
And I know why this is all manifesting itself because it's Christmas!!! Oh the JOYS of the Christmas Season. This being all gross and unlovable is so true to form. time to Repost #1 and Repost #2
Last night I started singing like my youngest. A repetitive annoying song which Little Miss Sunshine had been doing all day! Muhahaha... She was reading The Silver Chair a bit above her reading level There I was next to her belting out a silly made up Christmas song. Priceless!!! She at least figured out what I was Doing.. "MOM stop pretending to be me!" ROFL!
We have decided that Christmas is NOT the most wonderful time of the year, as people act even stranger than normal. The added pressure to Be Happy just makes everyday worse. Mom is even more busy than normal and cannot be disturbed. Bah Humbug!
That is why this weekend instead of doing cards I sat with my kids and painted Christmas bulbs. We all had a blast got paint on our clothing and Sweet Potato ruined one of y best brushes. Ahh well it's only a brush right???
Christmas will come and go, I for one will be so happy to see the back side of it, and a return to "normalcy" if anything in this world can be called normal.
On another note the kiddos are being themselves, were doing home school lite... Which means I'm checking work as I prep meals for the ministry and bake cookies. All but my Christmas cards are done. Woo hoo! Only a few presents to wrap and its all finished.
Just in time too, as Sweet Potato has been cheating with her meds. *SIGH* Now she is sick and running a fever. Ugh I'd hate to be in her shoes. Medication night and day, Doctors are mystified as to the cause, thus no answers just medication, and The Vest, to ease the symptoms. I hate it when she decided shes right and I'm wrong because what I said didn't happen immediately. No you cannot chew your medication! It will hurt your body... So she chews her medication. "My body isn't in pain, so you must be wrong Mom." Sigh... Picture me banging my head against the wall. She doesn't even believe the nurse on the phone. I had to switch it back to the neti pot which does the same thing as the medication just in a much more gross way.
Then I see posts on Neti pots that use tap water, giving people brain eating amoebae. *LOVELY!* Now I always use the reverse osmosis water because the amount of "dead" mold spores in the local water makes my allergy's worse. I know occasionally Sweet Potato doesn't, instead she pushes the easy button and uses tap water. So now I have one more thing to be paranoid about. NO MORE TAP WATER!! even tho we don't live in Louisiana.
I had a talk with her today about when you don't take your nose medication your nose itches. (then you rub it, and never wash your hands, and the family is all ewww gross!!!) When you fake taking your inhaler; your lungs hurt. Taking medication isn't fun; but not taking it, is worse. The Orthodontics nurse had to talk with me on the condition of her teeth, as in she isn't brushing well enough either.
And I know why this is all manifesting itself because it's Christmas!!! Oh the JOYS of the Christmas Season. This being all gross and unlovable is so true to form. time to Repost #1 and Repost #2
Last night I started singing like my youngest. A repetitive annoying song which Little Miss Sunshine had been doing all day! Muhahaha... She was reading The Silver Chair a bit above her reading level There I was next to her belting out a silly made up Christmas song. Priceless!!! She at least figured out what I was Doing.. "MOM stop pretending to be me!" ROFL!
We have decided that Christmas is NOT the most wonderful time of the year, as people act even stranger than normal. The added pressure to Be Happy just makes everyday worse. Mom is even more busy than normal and cannot be disturbed. Bah Humbug!
That is why this weekend instead of doing cards I sat with my kids and painted Christmas bulbs. We all had a blast got paint on our clothing and Sweet Potato ruined one of y best brushes. Ahh well it's only a brush right???
Christmas will come and go, I for one will be so happy to see the back side of it, and a return to "normalcy" if anything in this world can be called normal.
Friday, December 9, 2011
All I want for Christmas is a Water Buffalo
First a commercial :-)
A blogger I read has found THE Coolest race track called Blu Track and is giving one away! Head over there for a chance to win. you totally have to watch the video on how it works. I so want one but if I do win it will go to my young nephews :-) I love how this mom let her boy make the right decision too.. Coolio Momsie!
http://inashoe.com/2011/12/giveaway-blu-track-racetrack/
Now since this is all a big link up blog post I do want to share what Little Miss Sunshine wants for Christmas. A Water Buffalo... NO not for our back yard, but for an impoverished family in India. Daddy has been hard at work getting a project called Activate My Faith started over at GFA's web site So here is your chance to give my daughter what she wants for Christmas (Oh bless her heart!) and do some beta testing as well.
This is your sneek peek at the future of GFA on the web :-)
She has her project here https://www.mygfa.org/waterbuffalo/ she saved up $96 herself from her stinky allowance of $3.25 a week (if she did all her chores) and by doing extra jobs at .25 and .50 cents apiece is no small feat!. Yes its a stinky allowance but we are missionaries and kids having money is not a big line item in our debt free budget.
Don't forget 100% of your donation will go to buy this water buffalo.
When I sat down with her yesterday and asked if it was ok that Grandma and Grandpa give her less/less expensive presents and donate more to her water buffalo she happy danced and said yes oh yes!
Oh what a blessing it is to have a child who feel this way, that giving is what Christmas is about, not the getting. It really keeps my "greedy heart" in check. Thank you Lord for this child of mine who sees the world with your eyes. Ok she not all that pure and holy but she can be really sweet :-) And she really really really wants a Water buffalo So a donation of 1$ is greeted with the same joy as $20 or $50.
Go you know you want to... and please remember it is beta let us know if anything is not working!!!
KNOWN ISSUES: pictures missing in video.
A blogger I read has found THE Coolest race track called Blu Track and is giving one away! Head over there for a chance to win. you totally have to watch the video on how it works. I so want one but if I do win it will go to my young nephews :-) I love how this mom let her boy make the right decision too.. Coolio Momsie!
http://inashoe.com/2011/12/giveaway-blu-track-racetrack/
Now since this is all a big link up blog post I do want to share what Little Miss Sunshine wants for Christmas. A Water Buffalo... NO not for our back yard, but for an impoverished family in India. Daddy has been hard at work getting a project called Activate My Faith started over at GFA's web site So here is your chance to give my daughter what she wants for Christmas (Oh bless her heart!) and do some beta testing as well.
This is your sneek peek at the future of GFA on the web :-)
She has her project here https://www.mygfa.org/waterbuffalo/ she saved up $96 herself from her stinky allowance of $3.25 a week (if she did all her chores) and by doing extra jobs at .25 and .50 cents apiece is no small feat!. Yes its a stinky allowance but we are missionaries and kids having money is not a big line item in our debt free budget.
Don't forget 100% of your donation will go to buy this water buffalo.
When I sat down with her yesterday and asked if it was ok that Grandma and Grandpa give her less/less expensive presents and donate more to her water buffalo she happy danced and said yes oh yes!
Oh what a blessing it is to have a child who feel this way, that giving is what Christmas is about, not the getting. It really keeps my "greedy heart" in check. Thank you Lord for this child of mine who sees the world with your eyes. Ok she not all that pure and holy but she can be really sweet :-) And she really really really wants a Water buffalo So a donation of 1$ is greeted with the same joy as $20 or $50.
Go you know you want to... and please remember it is beta let us know if anything is not working!!!
KNOWN ISSUES: pictures missing in video.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Advent Calandar
So I dug out my Paddington Advent calendar yesterday while decorating for Christmas.
But what to fill it with??? as now I have 2 kiddos and one can't eat candy, artificial colors or flavors, nor gluten or chocolate, and the Playmobile Advent calendar was $35.00!!
Well this season is supposed to be about Christ so I thought I'll fill it with bible verses. Then the thought of writing out all those verses. I can picture all the spelling errors I will make. Bah! Then one google search later and woo hooo I found a cute set and just printed them out.
You too can find them here!
http://happyhomefairy.com/2010/11/30/bible-verse-advent-cards-free-printables/
So this week were gonna do Homeschool Lite. About half speed so we can bake piles of cookies and get the cards and presents out. I also need to bake the fruit cakes. Maybe I'll post that recipe tomorrow. This is not fruit cake we all make fun of. But one that gets gobbled up every time I take it places. Considering it does not contain that weird looking plastic like fruit they sell in the store. But rather a nice mix of real dried fruit, and no molasses. (Which I have discovered people don't like in fruit cake. :-)
So have fun printing out bible verses and making a Advent calendar this morning. I know I will... after I make about 30 sandwiches for the staff.
But what to fill it with??? as now I have 2 kiddos and one can't eat candy, artificial colors or flavors, nor gluten or chocolate, and the Playmobile Advent calendar was $35.00!!
Well this season is supposed to be about Christ so I thought I'll fill it with bible verses. Then the thought of writing out all those verses. I can picture all the spelling errors I will make. Bah! Then one google search later and woo hooo I found a cute set and just printed them out.
You too can find them here!
http://happyhomefairy.com/2010/11/30/bible-verse-advent-cards-free-printables/
So this week were gonna do Homeschool Lite. About half speed so we can bake piles of cookies and get the cards and presents out. I also need to bake the fruit cakes. Maybe I'll post that recipe tomorrow. This is not fruit cake we all make fun of. But one that gets gobbled up every time I take it places. Considering it does not contain that weird looking plastic like fruit they sell in the store. But rather a nice mix of real dried fruit, and no molasses. (Which I have discovered people don't like in fruit cake. :-)
So have fun printing out bible verses and making a Advent calendar this morning. I know I will... after I make about 30 sandwiches for the staff.
Friday, November 18, 2011
A multi week check in
So this will be a photo show of the last few weeks of Heart of Dakota
a spontaneous poem I found in sweet potatoes notebook. 
Little miss sunshine making a secret message like the Romans. Took Dad a good long time to figure it out. 
 |
| Look Mom a Cell! |
Fossils in bread
The girls are trying to put together each others line drawings. The discovered it was impossible... they did manage to separate out the pieces but not knowing what they were putting together made it very difficult. 
Can I stop now Mom. this is impossible...
Ok I'd blog more but I'm totally swamped today!!!
Friday, November 11, 2011
Faith and Fear
So its 1 AM and I can hear Sweet Potato coughing, *sigh* The Vest (huh what is The Vest?? click here) is working, much less coughing but the night time coughing is still interrupting her sleep. A few days ago she was complaining of stomach aches and My Knight In Shining Armor was worried about Appendicitis (Because it can strike at any time!!!) He made her do the kick and cough thing. And Sweet Potato's response just reinforced my believe in her "sympathy cough." She looked at Dad and said "But I can only fake cough right now I don't have any real coughs." (Ahhh Ha!! I was right! She does cough extra when it gets her extra attention!!! And do you blame her!)
Were still working things out with the insurance company so far Cigna looks to be stepping up and doing the right thing. I hope it continues in that vein. But looking at a piece of equipment that is a huge chunk of change to this missionary family gave me personally a few days of fear! How will The Father pay for it! (no Dad I don't mean you ;-) but thanks for the braces check we appreciate that.) I can see it may clean out our emergency fund and missionary mobile fund. But I don't think we will need to take on debt. Whew! But then we will have to start all over again rebuilding those, yes yes I know that is what they are there for.
Part of me wishes I was more mature and had less of a fearful reaction to the exorbitant cost.I keep thinking if I was more of a mature christian, this "walking by faith" wouldn't be so scary. Why can't I just look back and see He is gonna be there for us. I mean He provided in so many ways to pay for Little Miss Sunshine's adoption. And giving credit where it is due Who knew a cartoon about Dogs locked up in the pound click here would cause support to come into our life. By the way Way to Go Mike! on winning all those awards for your animations. (We'll put it to good use buying medical equipment.) May "Pound Dogs" go on to amuse the men of this world and gross out the ladies for many years to come. *wink*
I sometimes wonder what was the agency thinking "Sweet potato was labeled as "Mild" but parents must be open to unknowns in the future.... then I think What was I thinking!!! that our family would be fine normal and never have any problems. Life is NOT assured to be happy and fine all the time. People get in car accidents and end up with brain trauma, cancer hits very young children, and even me the child of my parents has learning disabilities that still make me use spell check far more often than your average Joe.
Not picking anything "rough" on that form of how: severely damaged a child are you willing to take. Was more of a self assessment of what we thought we could handle. God knew we had far greater depth.
What I can stand firm on is the fact that God knows Our hearts, Our limits, and He put these children in our lives to raise as best we can. Ahh well the coughing has awoken her so I'm off to tuck her back in and pray this time she sleeps without coughing herself awake again.
'
Were still working things out with the insurance company so far Cigna looks to be stepping up and doing the right thing. I hope it continues in that vein. But looking at a piece of equipment that is a huge chunk of change to this missionary family gave me personally a few days of fear! How will The Father pay for it! (no Dad I don't mean you ;-) but thanks for the braces check we appreciate that.) I can see it may clean out our emergency fund and missionary mobile fund. But I don't think we will need to take on debt. Whew! But then we will have to start all over again rebuilding those, yes yes I know that is what they are there for.
Part of me wishes I was more mature and had less of a fearful reaction to the exorbitant cost.I keep thinking if I was more of a mature christian, this "walking by faith" wouldn't be so scary. Why can't I just look back and see He is gonna be there for us. I mean He provided in so many ways to pay for Little Miss Sunshine's adoption. And giving credit where it is due Who knew a cartoon about Dogs locked up in the pound click here would cause support to come into our life. By the way Way to Go Mike! on winning all those awards for your animations. (We'll put it to good use buying medical equipment.) May "Pound Dogs" go on to amuse the men of this world and gross out the ladies for many years to come. *wink*
I sometimes wonder what was the agency thinking "Sweet potato was labeled as "Mild" but parents must be open to unknowns in the future.... then I think What was I thinking!!! that our family would be fine normal and never have any problems. Life is NOT assured to be happy and fine all the time. People get in car accidents and end up with brain trauma, cancer hits very young children, and even me the child of my parents has learning disabilities that still make me use spell check far more often than your average Joe.
Not picking anything "rough" on that form of how: severely damaged a child are you willing to take. Was more of a self assessment of what we thought we could handle. God knew we had far greater depth.
What I can stand firm on is the fact that God knows Our hearts, Our limits, and He put these children in our lives to raise as best we can. Ahh well the coughing has awoken her so I'm off to tuck her back in and pray this time she sleeps without coughing herself awake again.
'
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Worth it
I was watching a video last night at All Night Prayer. It
explained the terrible conditions of the Dalit community in India and one thing
struck home. I don’t know who the man was who was speaking but it really pulled
at my heart. He was speaking about the mental state of a child raised in a
world that sees them as little better than animals and only worthy to be
enslaved. His main point was by the time the children are 11-13 or so they have a
skewed world view of themselves.
Then I was on face book and a message from last year popped
back up due to the changes in the inbox thing.
Here it is with the names changed to protect the repentant
I heard from XXXX XXXXXX via facebook. She said to tell you how bad she
felt about how she was mean to you back in HS. I said I felt bad too about how
I sometimes treated you. So apologies from both of us.
This is the 3rd apology in as many years. It seems to me every year I get something like
this in my inbox from people of that particular town.
We were challenged last night to understand that we (and I’m
paraphrasing here) raised in one of the wealthiest countries in the world could
have sympathy but maybe not truly understand how it feels to live in a
community that vilifies you.
I think he is right.. even tho I was called “Ugly” every day
of my High school career. I was only slightly higher than Pond Scum* in High
school hence the apologies I keep receiving. (Sometimes I suspect a 12 step
program to be involved.) My mantra as I walked the halls and heard politically incorrect
epitaphs tossed at me was “God doesn’t make Junk, God doesn’t make Junk.” I still had that to hold on too. I had parents
that reinforced that belief system. I was Not
junk… But a Dalit child, his belief system says you are slightly better
than an insect and you are only worthy to do the dirty jobs in this world. (For
example you can clean latrines with your bare hands.) *Evenually I was able to raise my level, I started winning races
in track and cross country then I was allowed admittance in the Jock clique. Not so for Dalits their position in society is more or less fixed.
I have experienced a village who decided they didn’t want us
to live in their town. I won’t
go into the gross and unkind things a few families in our community did to our
family to try to drive us out of town. (gross and unkind things....that is putting it pretty mildly). But in
no way does it compare to the loss of the Christians in Orrisa during 2008
village burnings. The insurance company
here In America paid to repair the damage done to our home and car. Meanwhile many Christians in Orrisa who lost everything are still waiting (3 years later) for
relocation and a home.
My family has known the pain and suffering of loss, heart
break, rejection, and violence. Our faith pulled us through and helped us
overcome the words and actions of others. My Sainted Mother often said to me: “What doesn’t kill you makes you
grow stronger.”
I feel like Paul I see
through a glass darkly of the plight of Dalits,
YES My family has been persecuted in America but, the police were willing to protect us.
YES We suffered loss but we could earn enough money to set things to rights again.
YES I was vilified and told by my peers I was worthless every school day for years (and even if you don’t believe it, it still affects you). But my God did not reinforce that message. I cannot know their level of pain and suffering but I can sympathize and help.
YES My family has been persecuted in America but, the police were willing to protect us.
YES We suffered loss but we could earn enough money to set things to rights again.
YES I was vilified and told by my peers I was worthless every school day for years (and even if you don’t believe it, it still affects you). But my God did not reinforce that message. I cannot know their level of pain and suffering but I can sympathize and help.
It just reinforced my belief that helping those in Asia to
be better educated, to learn there is a God who says they are NOT junk, to change the outlook of even
one child is worth all the effort
being a missionary in Texas.
If you want to watch the video click here http://nolongeraslumdog.org/dalits/
If you feel moved to help click here http://nolongeraslumdog.org/engage/
Friday, November 4, 2011
Surmountable: Capable of Being Overcome
Ever have days when you feel stalked by sorrow? I have been feeling this way lately. I wonder if it's due to the narrowness of my view? Its like I have the Mommy Blinders on and I have no Idea of the world around me. It was a HOT summer where we have been stuck inside. Now the weather has flipped and its cooler than normal and yet I'm still daily praying for rain, Oh where are the October rains??? Oh no wait it's November... So I keep diligently praying for rain. Who's idea was it to build a city in this arid landscape anyway?
Last Sunday I ran into a friend I used to work with on a daily basis. She was sitting outside on a perfect evening. I was feeling lonely and sad. I had totally messed up my schedule and had just completed a task I was supposed to have done hours before that I had forgotten about. Yet here in Gods perfect timing was my friend.
She looked at me and said "It feels like 2 years since I really talked to you last." Oh how true that was!! She was so right it has been 2 years. My focus has been so turned into family, fixing the issues at home, healing Little M...... I mean Sweet Potato's brain. Side note here: I have been lovingly rebuked (isn't it awesome to be Truly Lovingly rebuked :-) by a dear friend and as per her suggestion I am officially changing Little M.' moniker to Sweet Potato, but I digress. So back to the story... Yup its been a good bit more than 2 years to bring about real change in her attitude, hurts, learning disabilities. I'm still amazed at the flexibly of her brain and it's ability to change, grow and heal. I just love these Nuro typical days..... upon day, upon day, upon day...we are enjoying them so much. It was wonderful to sit and talk to my friend about dogs, and the weather. To pass the time pleasantly in the company of one who loved me even when I wasn't available.
I feel like I have been under water for a long time holding my breath and now I can see the surface all sparkling in the sun. Soon I can burst forth from the water and breath again. Only just a few more strokes for a clean full fresh breath of air. Ever dive really deep and look up, feel the pressure of the water actually propelling you upwards. Yup that is how I feel now, ever since the last evaluation at Little Giant Steps. Not that we don't have bad moments brought on by her issues. But now I suddenly feel confidant again they are surmountable.
It's been a season at home and it's been worth it. But today I so enjoyed a fuller day at work. C. took my kids with hers to a petting zoo (woo hooo field trip I didn't have to chaperon!!!) And I got to go use part of my brain that hasn't been used in a good 5-6 years. Once I found where Adobe hid the tool I was looking for in Photoshop. I was able to then train a talented artist in a different way to silhouette... Old school style...cause lets face it... it's the only way I know how and that select tool just wasn't cutting it. I swear my brain made happy juice as I was remembering how I used to do this. At one point I was bouncing back n' forth between tools. I KNEW there was an easier way and of course once I stopped trying to actively remember, my reflexes took over. And bingo!! My fingers had not forgotten the key strokes even tho my brain had. I had the tools I needed at the stroke of a key. The Brain is Amazing!!!
Last Sunday I ran into a friend I used to work with on a daily basis. She was sitting outside on a perfect evening. I was feeling lonely and sad. I had totally messed up my schedule and had just completed a task I was supposed to have done hours before that I had forgotten about. Yet here in Gods perfect timing was my friend.
She looked at me and said "It feels like 2 years since I really talked to you last." Oh how true that was!! She was so right it has been 2 years. My focus has been so turned into family, fixing the issues at home, healing Little M...... I mean Sweet Potato's brain. Side note here: I have been lovingly rebuked (isn't it awesome to be Truly Lovingly rebuked :-) by a dear friend and as per her suggestion I am officially changing Little M.' moniker to Sweet Potato, but I digress. So back to the story... Yup its been a good bit more than 2 years to bring about real change in her attitude, hurts, learning disabilities. I'm still amazed at the flexibly of her brain and it's ability to change, grow and heal. I just love these Nuro typical days..... upon day, upon day, upon day...we are enjoying them so much. It was wonderful to sit and talk to my friend about dogs, and the weather. To pass the time pleasantly in the company of one who loved me even when I wasn't available.
I feel like I have been under water for a long time holding my breath and now I can see the surface all sparkling in the sun. Soon I can burst forth from the water and breath again. Only just a few more strokes for a clean full fresh breath of air. Ever dive really deep and look up, feel the pressure of the water actually propelling you upwards. Yup that is how I feel now, ever since the last evaluation at Little Giant Steps. Not that we don't have bad moments brought on by her issues. But now I suddenly feel confidant again they are surmountable.
It's been a season at home and it's been worth it. But today I so enjoyed a fuller day at work. C. took my kids with hers to a petting zoo (woo hooo field trip I didn't have to chaperon!!!) And I got to go use part of my brain that hasn't been used in a good 5-6 years. Once I found where Adobe hid the tool I was looking for in Photoshop. I was able to then train a talented artist in a different way to silhouette... Old school style...cause lets face it... it's the only way I know how and that select tool just wasn't cutting it. I swear my brain made happy juice as I was remembering how I used to do this. At one point I was bouncing back n' forth between tools. I KNEW there was an easier way and of course once I stopped trying to actively remember, my reflexes took over. And bingo!! My fingers had not forgotten the key strokes even tho my brain had. I had the tools I needed at the stroke of a key. The Brain is Amazing!!!
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Fighting On
If I believe in God, in a Being who made me, and fashioned me, and knows my wants and capacities and necessities because He gave them to me, and who is perfectly good and loving, righteous, and perfectly wise and powerful -whatever my circumstances inward or outward may be, however thick the darkness which encompasses me - I yet can trust, yes, be assured, that all will be well, that He can draw light out of darkness, and make crooked things straight ~ Thomas Erskine
These words are from a wonderful devotional my parents sent me. They really ministered to my heart today.
Sometimes we get so wrapped up in our lives as homeschooling moms/wife/missionary. We have so many concerns at home and ministry, we loose touch with the outside world. When we realize it and come back out of our little shell its like a whole new world out there. Being at the ministry were already in a bubble/fishbowl/glass house. Were always encouraged toward transparency with one another yet we rarely get it. And if you give it people are so unsure of how to assimilate it. We live in a world of unreality where we say were fine when we are hurting inside.
People are so afraid.
I'm So glad my GOD is so much greater than any of my problems I'm so glad He So REAL. I'm gonna repeat that HE IS SO REAL. Even when I'm at my lowest point crying over a chair that won't get put together right or a relationship that seems doomed from the start. God is still SO REAL. So close.
I often wonder how other people relate to God. I have heard the Holy Spirit described as a continuous shower we can step in to and out of by Aunti Gisela. But for me the presence of God is like a deep well. Not deep in the ground mind you, but so deep and full. Filled to the brim of that living water we can go a quench our thirst at anytime. You don't even need a bucket to drink from it.
Yet how often we get wrapped up in out little hurts our little fears, and big fears, or fears that are little that we dwell on so much they become big. Don't you do this? I know I do.
I was so freaking out this week about how to pay for yet another expense for Little M. It's a lifelong piece of medical equipment she will need for of course the rest of her life. It has a huge price tag. It's something that needs to survive for many decades to come so I can understand the expense. Ok at first I railed against God and man at the huge cost but I came around eventually.
At the moment God has it totally under control. Isn't that how it always is? Doesn't He always have everything under control? Our kids, Our families, Our ministry, Our relationships.
I believe he cares about the minute details of our lives. Take for example a book I needed for Little M's therapy. Amazon has it for 80$ new or $27 used. A begging email to the ministry homeschooling pool of resources came up blank. So a bit a prayer and the next day took my feet to our local Home Educators Resource book store. Guess what book they just got in yesterday and priced at 12$ and before they even put it out on the shelf I was holding it in my hot little hands.
God cares so much about every little detail of our lives and he loves us so deeply. I shake my head in wonder at my stupidity. Why, oh why!! Do we even waste one minute in worry? I know I do it and after ward think Doh! Why am I so short sighted??? I must need more faith, or wisdom or discernment.
But I'm keeping on, keeping on trying not to be afraid of being a real person and thinking I need to spend more time sitting next to the well drinking deeply of the living water.
These words are from a wonderful devotional my parents sent me. They really ministered to my heart today.
Sometimes we get so wrapped up in our lives as homeschooling moms/wife/missionary. We have so many concerns at home and ministry, we loose touch with the outside world. When we realize it and come back out of our little shell its like a whole new world out there. Being at the ministry were already in a bubble/fishbowl/glass house. Were always encouraged toward transparency with one another yet we rarely get it. And if you give it people are so unsure of how to assimilate it. We live in a world of unreality where we say were fine when we are hurting inside.
People are so afraid.
I'm So glad my GOD is so much greater than any of my problems I'm so glad He So REAL. I'm gonna repeat that HE IS SO REAL. Even when I'm at my lowest point crying over a chair that won't get put together right or a relationship that seems doomed from the start. God is still SO REAL. So close.
I often wonder how other people relate to God. I have heard the Holy Spirit described as a continuous shower we can step in to and out of by Aunti Gisela. But for me the presence of God is like a deep well. Not deep in the ground mind you, but so deep and full. Filled to the brim of that living water we can go a quench our thirst at anytime. You don't even need a bucket to drink from it.
Yet how often we get wrapped up in out little hurts our little fears, and big fears, or fears that are little that we dwell on so much they become big. Don't you do this? I know I do.
I was so freaking out this week about how to pay for yet another expense for Little M. It's a lifelong piece of medical equipment she will need for of course the rest of her life. It has a huge price tag. It's something that needs to survive for many decades to come so I can understand the expense. Ok at first I railed against God and man at the huge cost but I came around eventually.
At the moment God has it totally under control. Isn't that how it always is? Doesn't He always have everything under control? Our kids, Our families, Our ministry, Our relationships.
I believe he cares about the minute details of our lives. Take for example a book I needed for Little M's therapy. Amazon has it for 80$ new or $27 used. A begging email to the ministry homeschooling pool of resources came up blank. So a bit a prayer and the next day took my feet to our local Home Educators Resource book store. Guess what book they just got in yesterday and priced at 12$ and before they even put it out on the shelf I was holding it in my hot little hands.
God cares so much about every little detail of our lives and he loves us so deeply. I shake my head in wonder at my stupidity. Why, oh why!! Do we even waste one minute in worry? I know I do it and after ward think Doh! Why am I so short sighted??? I must need more faith, or wisdom or discernment.
But I'm keeping on, keeping on trying not to be afraid of being a real person and thinking I need to spend more time sitting next to the well drinking deeply of the living water.
Friday, October 21, 2011
Little M's Evaluation :-)
Her last evaluation in the spring was a bit of a disappointment I was bummed that she did not progress as fast I expected. As I look back I can see she was in the regression/reboot phase so I'm not surprised she did not preform well.
This time I restricted her to phase one foods for about 4 days before the evaluation, because I'm paranoid. Don't want any "Bad Mood Food" AKA Maganese and Phytates to effect her evaluation. She still snagged a few finger-fulls of my birthday cake when my back was turned. I was saving her a piece for after the evaluation!!
Wednesday was her evaluation and Jan was so pleased. She said Little M is blossoming, and that she could name all the Star Wars characters LOL!
We still need to work on removing the Babinski Reflex tho (so stubborn!) and a few more tactility things that always seem the last to go. Her dominance is all lefty now Woooo hoooo lets hope it stays that way.
We still need to work on visual detail and conversations. I love how now her profile has so few yellow diagonal lines across it!!!!! And Jan kept saying Oh this one would be gone if she gets rid of "x" (one thing not many things.) Or this one will go when this goal above it is complete. This one will go when the detail in the other column is better. It makes me very happy :-) I'm much encouraged by this all.
I feel a bit sad for people who believe Spectrum Issues like ADHD, ADD and Autism is NOT"cure-able or fixable, and will be a life long struggle for their child." As I see Little M growing in ability, slowly loosing her carefulness in tactility issues, looking people in the eye, articulating her feelings and emotions. Identifying how other people are feeling, being generous, compassionate. These things were almost non existent before. Now she wants to share! has fewer issues and is slowly but surely becoming more nuro-typical. She is much less afraid of the the world. I like that I like it a whole lot.
Her reading comprehension is mid 5th grade and her math is slightly higher. So only about 6 months "behind her peers" so to speak which makes me happy :-)
And we saw her orthodontist and they have managed to grow her bottom jaw to where it is supposed to be. So her eating and biting ability is much improved.
It's been a week full of bad news and wrangling with the insurance company and I sure did need this good news right about now.
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