Clouds

"The clouds are really cool again today Mama!" This is what I heard on the way home again today. So we found more shapes in the clouds. How could you not love her?

This one is an elephant, do you see it?

Chugging right along

This week is a good week on the homeschooling trail. Sometimes I feel lost, I like the "unschooling" approach, but sometimes I get scared and feel like we need some more structure. This week so far has made me feel good about what we do.

Yesterday Doug took Ellie (and Elyza) to a storybook theater play Cinderella, then they went to the park and played for an hour or so. After I picked up the kids from Doug, and on our way home Ellie told me: "Mama, this is a great day to find picturess in the clouds!" This was her idea so we found pictures in clouds, we found a boat, a heart, cat ears, a marshmallow, a duck and a bird. We then stopped at the grocery store where Ellie had her own little coin purse and she bought two items and paid for them herself. We stopped and picked up my dad and Rosie. When we got home Ellie played on the computer a little bit. Then we ate artichokes and she kept saying how healthy they were for you, she loves them! Then we played Hi-Ho-Cherry-O with her and then my dad helped her build her land sail wooden toy from the workshop at Lowes, we skipped it on Saturday, but Doug picked one up while he was there. Right before we left to bring my dad back to his truck Ellie said "I want to draw a map for us to get there." So she sat down and drew a map for us... then she read it all the way there. Then we talked about her making a map of the inside of our house and she loved the idea, so she will work on that soon. When we got home she played with Rosie and then cuddled with her.

Today Doug is taking Ellie to a class at the Padilla Bay Estuary.
High Tide-Low Tide for Mini Explorers
Minis are the 3 to 5 year old learners. – When the tide goes out, plants and animals have lots of tricks for staying wet.

That should be nice and fun and educational!

I am not sure what the rest of the week holds for us but today I feel good about what we are doing.

She's baaaack!

When I went to pick up Rosie (and my dad for dinner) Rosie was out of the truck and when I walked towards them she started barking her I am going to eat you bark. I said "Rosie!" in a stern voice and she ran up to me and rolled onto her back to get a belly rub. She was very very excited to see me and the girls. We all got kisses (yuck) and she came into the house like she lived there. She was very confused when she did not leave with my dad. And when he put his jacket on because he was cold before we left she thought she was going out with him. That made me sad. Ellie played ball with her and layed on the floor with her after we dropped off Grandpa, I think that made Rosie feel better, she does love her kids.

She'll be comin' 'round the mountain when she comes

March 10th my dad took Rosie out on the truck with him, with the intention that he would keep her. She adjusted and they got quite attached to eachother. She was good for him, she made him walk and get exercise, and she was a companion. He was good for her, she needed someone to love, just one someone who did not have any other pets. It was a perfect match.

But then his company changed policy and said that all pets had to be off trucks by April 1st of 2009. In the few weeks they spent together they were already attached, he did not think it was fair to her or to him that she stay on the truck for another year and then have to leave.

So today she's coming home. Ellie is estatic, me, I am not so sure how I feel. I love Rosie, I really do, she is the one I favor over the other two, but having two dogs was so much easier than three.

There is nothing better than. . .

. . .a box full of packing peanuts.

I took these video of Ellie on her 5th Birthday (almost 2 months ago.) I just rewatched them today.... gotta love this kid.

The playroom halt

We started painting the playroom today. Well, since it was painted bright/dark colors we decided to use a coat of tinted primer first. So that coat is down, we are crossing our fingers that it only takes one coat of paint to cover it now. So we taped and put on the primer. That was a job itself.

We were also planning on laying laminate down, we have 4 boxes from Costco, so over $100 in laminate, and they freaking discontinud that color and now the new stuff has padding attached and I don't think we can use it with it. Since it's the playroom even if it was a close match it would work. I am so irritated. So we might just put down some foam pads instead of laminate... decisions, decisions.

It's coming along great, but with this little interruption I am not sure when we will get it done, I WAS hoping by next weekend, I don't think it will happen that soon now.

Feeling Accomplished

but now the house is a MESS.

We started three projects today. One was finishing the playroom, or the room that will be the playroom. Doug actually had been working on it, tearing out the carpet (the only room that needed laminate still.) Today we painted the ceiling, it was nasty, apparently the people who lived under the stairs (our old roommate) threw food or something on it, because it was gross. So that is painted, then we will prime and paint the walls tomorrow. They are painted really dark/bright colors right now, we are going to do a theme in there, but that's a secret for now. On the way to getting done, but not completed.

The first completed project
A few months ago I had an idea, to build a shelf in the kitchen window, but we are really not that handy with tools -- we are learning, especially since we laid laminate in our entire house last summer. Anyway, I wanted a shelf in the window so I could have more plants (love my plants) and take down the nasty mini blinds. Then one day we decided to get rid of some box springs that were in the garage (we bought platform bed) they were torn up and not really donatable so we started to disassemble then, not an easy task. I saw that some of the wood could be reused and was the perfect size to build the shelf I wanted to build in the kitchen.So today Doug built me my shelf out of the wood from the box springs -- $0 The board taken apart from the box spring



The window before the shelf



The window after the shelf. We will probably paint the shelf or at least stain it, but for now it works and I LOVE IT. Thank You Doug!




The second completed project for today My clothes line -- $10

It’s nothing fancy, but I can dry the diapers on it and some clothes and save some energy while I am at it! We put it on the deck, because in order to get to the backyard we have to go out on the deck and down a flight of stairs. It was in the yard we would not use it as much, so it's on the deck.

A quick glimpse into the mind of Ellie

I think Ellie's brain, like mine, works overtime. Sometimes she can't sleep, she's being restless and she says that her brain won't stop going. Here are some of the the things she thinks about.

Last September we were visiting my mom. I was in the bedroom nursing Elyza and Ellie was in the living room with my Nana (my mom.) My mom told Ellie to go put on her pajamas. Ellie said "I can't" When Nana asked why Ellie said: "All of my pajamas are going around in my brain like this." And she made a fast circular motion abovc her head with her hand. "And it hasn't stopped yet so I don't know what pajamas I want to wear." WOW... this was coming from a 4 1/2 year old. It was amazing she was able to communicate how her brain was working. And if you stop to think about it, this is how your brain works. You decide that you want to put on pajamas, so you think about what pair you may want to wear, your brain quickly scans your pajama inventory without you actually looking at them. And Ellie was able to put that into words.

Almost a year ago Ellie decided that when she grew up she wanted to be a firegirl. After visiting some firemen and going onto the firetruck, she decided that was the job for her. Last night we were talking about it and she still wants to be a firegirl, but she is a little worried about it. The part she is worried about is having to spend the night at the firehouse instead of at home with me. She's not worried about having to fight fires, about getting hurt, she wants to help save people and animals she said... but she is afraid of spending the night away from me.

Another night Ellie and I were talking and I told her that I hoped that when her and Elyza were older that they would be really good friends and be close to eachother. She told me "We will be close Mama, I will sleep in my bunkbed and Elyza will sleep right there with you." (Her bunkbed is in my bedroom next to my bed.) Mind you she doesn't sleep in her bunkbed, but in my bed, but it is comforting to know that when she grows up she won't be sleeping with me anymore, but in her bunkbed.

Think of the Child First

I came across a neat website today and wanted to share. It is how I try to be a parent and it's nice seeing it in official words.

Think of the child first

Small encouragements can make a big difference in the life of a child. Here are some examples of everyday things you can do to put a child first. We hope they will inspire you to put down the laundry and go to the park or take the phone off the hook and read their favorite story. A little time goes a long way.

Encourage Children, Nurture their dreams, it builds self-confidence.

Kids have big ambitions. And even though sometimes they may seem a bit lofty, there’s no harm in supporting them. Saying no to a child’s dreams can cause resentment. It’s best to support their goals rather than to laugh at them and discourage the behavior. For instance, if a child says they want to go to the moon or be the President, buy them a book or take them to a museum to learn more. Often, children grow out of their childhood dreams and develop new ones. But in the mean time, they will feel your love and support.

Here are a few ways to support a child’s big dreams:

• Ask a child what they want to be when they grow up. They will begin exploring occupations.
• Observe sports or activities a child likes, then look into lessons and clubs.
• Take them to the library or museum to find out more about the things that interest them.
• Give them a book, or read them a story to show them you support their interests.

Praise a child when they make a kind gesture. They'll grow up to be kind.

Encourage your child to make a difference in the world and always help him recognize the positive effect the gesture had on the recipient. The goal is for kids to become less dependent on adult guidance by incorporating moral principles in their lives and making them their own.

One of the easiest ways to help kids learn new behaviors is to reinforce them when they happen. This is why you should purposely catch your child when they act morally and acknowledge good behavior by describing what she did right and why you appreciate it.

How to encourage kindness:

• Be kind yourself. Say please and thank when speaking to a child.
• Point out when another child does something nice for someone.
• Teach a child to be kind to animals.
• Open the door for others. A child will model your behavior.

Remove doubt from a child's mind. They will achieve so much more.

Remember to tell a child often that you love them. Tell them when they do a good job and use positive reinforcement every chance you get. Let a child overhear the nice things you say about them to others. This will help them believe in themselves and cause them to practice these positive traits.

Ways to help a child to succeed:

• Build confidence in a child’s abilities. If they ask you to “do something for them,” reply that you’d love to see them do it instead.
• Encourage independence. Most often kids will rise to the occasion.
• When a child makes a mistake, let them know we all make mistakes – it helps us grow.
• Urge children to work on skills they are pretty good at, so they gain confidence and refine their talent.

Feed a child's imagination. It allows their mind to grow.
A child’s mind is a magical place - one of innocence and unlimited possibilities. Giving a child room to explore will foster their emotional, physical and creative development. Children find pleasure in stretching their imaginations. Give them the opportunity to draw and write or tell stories. And don’t forget that a child’s artwork doesn’t need to look like an adult’s. Unique styles should be valued. The sky does not always need to be blue. Give them the freedom to be a kid. They won’t be one forever.

How to set their imagination free:

• Celebrate a child’s creativity by displaying their art.
• When a child is bored, give them fun suggestions like flying a kite or building a snowman.
• Urge children to use trial and error to see what happens when they use their imaginations.
• Create a special art center that allows kids to creatively express themselves.

Spend time with a child, it makes them feel important

There are many things you can give a child. But what they will remember and appreciate most is your time. Learn to listen. It is easy to tune out the talk of our children. But one of the greatest things we can do for our children is to take them seriously and truly listen to them. Ask a child about their day. It’s important to know what’s going on at school. If possible, try to sit down to dinner together and take time to catch up. It’s not the quantity, but the quality that matters.

Make a child feel like a V.I.P:

• Limit television and computer games. Instead choose something productive you can continue working on together like a puzzle or a scrapbook that they can be proud of.
• Plan family outings or vacations such as hiking or swimming.
• Discourage homework immediately after school. Instead give them a break and go for a walk outside.
• Create family traditions that will make a child feel special. Pick apples together in the fall or put them in charge of choosing the Christmas tree.

Feeding the babe

I am glad that I decided NOT to use jarred baby food with Elyza. She has had baby cereal -- I feed her Earth's Best baby Cereal -- Not ONE single drop of jarred baby food, I am so proud of myself, it's really not as hard at it seems.

She still likes her food pretty pureed up, but I don't even steam her vegetables... raw veggies are the best for you, right? So....I just put them in the blender raw with some water and waaalaa, baby food.

Today I made her carrots mixed with peaches, frozen, not canned... (YUM! ok not really, but she thought it was YUM!) She loved it!

I cross my fingers-and-my-toes everyday that I end up with another great eater like Ellie is.

Spots, spots and more spots

March 10th the guy noticed that I had a rash on my back. I gave Nattie (our German Shepherd) a bath in the tub with a soap I had never used before so I presumed it was from this as I have very sensitive skin.

Over the next month I broke out with new spots continuously. They appears everywhere except my neck, my face, my palms and the soles of my feet. It started to itch and burn primarily on my legs. I saw 3 doctors and even ask the girls pediatrician while they were in for a check-up and all of them basically said "yep, spots, let's take some blood" No one really knew what was going on with me.

The third doctor was just at the walk-in-clinic who promised me that he would get me to a dermatologist the next day (since I was having a hard time getting into one, I was told anywhere from 2 weeks to 3 months.) The next morning his nurse call me at 8:20am and they had me an appointment THAT DAY to see a dermatologist (ironically it was the office that told me 3 months.)

The dermatologist was on March 25 who immediately said vasculitis, but did a skin biopsy. The biopsy came back as vasculitis a week later, which is about as helpful as slug. I did my own research and the type it appears I had can be caused by anything from a medication I am on -- to an environmental factor. But no one was telling me WHAT I should do next. I went back to my regular doctor a week later (April 8th.) Apparently vasculitis is not something that general practitioners know much about. She called a Rheumatologist who said to give me prednisone - yuck. So I stopped all medications I was taking and went on prednisone.


If you know nothing about prednisone you don't want to. It makes you irritable and makes you feel like you are on sensory overload. I was on it for 8 days, I had night sweats, I was a complete grouch, I wasn't sleeping well. The medications I was taken off of were a blood pressure medication and an anti-depressant. Prednisone makes you grouchy and makes your blood pressure elevate, two things I do just fine on my own thank-you-very-much and now I was taken off the two medications I take to help with those and put on one that will make it worse. Fun times.

And it was to a point that if one-more-person told me "my husband had a rash like that and xxx helped..." or I was going to throw them off a bridge. These were the same people who did not recognize the rash when I first got it, I told them it was vacuities and they had never heard of vacuities, THEY HAD NO IDEA what I was going through.

Yesterday I finally saw the Rheumatologist, who had not much to say that I didn't already learn on my own. At least now I am not a new patient so if it happens again I hope I can get it sooner than 2 1/2 weeks. He took more blood... this time was by far the most blood I have had taken at once, 14 vials. I have had so much blood taken and so far the only things that come back as 'abnormal' are that I have a slightly elevated white blood count and another came back as I had inflammation in my body, yeah thanks, I had inflation of my blood vessels!

I have not gotten new spots since April 7th. I have old spots that are fading, I have some that are scabbed and/or irritated, but overall it looks good. Still really no answers about why I had them, ideas, but not answers. At this point I just hope I never get them again.



What is Vasculitis? Vasculitis is an inflammation of the blood vessels, arteries, veins or capillaries. When such inflammation occurs, it causes changes in the walls of blood vessels, such as weakening and narrowing that can progress to the point of blood vessel blockage.





Kids for the most part were very curious about my spots.

C (5 1/2) who I don't see often as she lives across the state and does not ask strangers questions, sweetly asked me what happened to my legs.

Because at first we did not know if it was contagious I had not been seeing my friends... when I finally saw some of them G (4 1/2) started crying and said: "Why did you let Angie come over, now we are all going to get spots."

The neighbor girl said "where did you get those spots?" I told her "The store" and then asked her if she wanted me to pick up some for her.

Adults usually cringed and they were glad that they were on me, not them.

Want to see pictures of my spots? I bet you do!

One more shot?

I have been thinking this over for a few days... I didn't want to make a hasty decision... I decided to give blogging another shot. I have all these thoughts and ideas in my head and I need a place to put them and maybe even get some feedback from my friends, family and maybe even a stranger or two!

I am constantly thinking and rethinking everything, my brain works overtime. Sometimes it's very specific thoughts, sometimes they are very random thoughts.

I admit it

I REALLY love my husband.

There I said it.

It's not everyday I feel like that, lol.

Little Update

I am so in love with our new addition and so in love with my family.
I am having a hard time coping lately though so please keep me in your thoughts.

Awww

Ellie just took my hand and said "Will you marry me"

I told her "I would love to marry you baby but I already married Daddy.'

She said: "No you marry me!"

So sweet!

Smarty-Pants

Last night I had some sunflower seed butter on a spoon (yum, it's my little treat) and she wanted some so she said "I want some seed butter dip please!"

Also last night she drew flowers, a sun and was making letter A's on the wipe board grandma brougt over last week.

Flowers (we won't say what they resemble!)

Sun

Letter A

Also last night while we were coloring she said "I need Rojo" She has been able to tell us colors in spanish but has never used like it was a normal word before! That was very exciting!

Did you know Ellie has a birthday coming up?

Just in case she hasn't told EVERYONE yet!

Ellie is so excited she is going to have a birthday. She is so precious. She will tell anyone that blinks her way "I am going to be three on my birthday." Then when they respond with a "neat" or whatever she will tell them "We are going to ride on the ferris wheel on my birthday!" And when they ask when her when her birthday is she proudly says "March six" I am so in love with her

P.S. We are having 3 parties for her I guess it makes up since we had no parties for years 1 & 2! Just as a family thing IF it's nice we are all going to go to the Seattle Center and the Science center (me, Doug, Cassie and Ellie) because she's obsessed with riding the ferris wheel. Then Doug's mom's side of the family is coming next weekend for a party for Ellie and Cassie. And we will have a kid party just for Ellie with her new little friends she's made the past couple weeks.

She has requested a Dora Bike, because big sister got a new bike for her birthday and Ellie only has a plastic fisher price tricycle, so she wants a big girl bike like Sissy. So she will be getting a new bike, my baby is growing up!!

May-toes, Yum!

Ellie has always loved Tomatoes. Well last night I cut her up one Roma Tomato and she scarfed it down, so I cut up another but she said she was done. So I ate the second one. This was while I was making dinner. A bit later I turned around and she was standing in the kitchen eating a tomato whole! I used to eat them like these as a kid but this was a first for Ellie.

Down to the last bite, I had to help her with that...

Cassie's 8th Birthday!

Cassie turned 8 yesterday!

She got a new bike, mountain bike, for her birthday along with some other things. Harley spent the night and they had fun! We went bowling and the kids had a good time.

Photo's can be found to the right under Photography, Cassie's Birthday.

Meet Cooper

This is our new baby Cooper. He's 4 years old and he's already spoiled rotten