What were we thinking??

We had a moment of weakness.  Maybe it's the lack of sleep or the cold winter months going to our brains.  In the midst of all the sickness in our house we have added 4 more members to the family. 
It all started when Emma wanted a fish.  Seems innocent enough, right?  Wrong!  Next Olivia wants a fish, which somehow turned into Isaiah wanting a snake.  Unfortunately for him my mother-in-law is deathly afraid of snakes and would refuse to come inside the house if we got one.  So he turned his attention to acquiring a a bearded dragon.  After much research we realized that a bearded dragon needs a lot more care and attention than we were ready for.  So we were on the hunt again for a suitable pet for Isaiah.  We went to both Pet Food Centers, Petsmart, and then finally to Harp's Pets before he found the deal he was looking for.  They had a sale on two steppe runners with a cage, light, cave and water bowl already included.  The only care they need is water and crickets, and to clean their cage regularly.  He was sold!!

And so now we have 2 parents, 4 children, 1 dog, 2 fish, and 2 steppe runners.  Who knows, next it may be chickens!!  (Not kidding, I've been wanting chickens for a long time now!!!)

Please excuse the mess in the background.  We are in the middle of turning our dining room into a school room.

Really??

If I wasn't living it; I wouldn't believe it.  Since my last post Isaiah has had strep throat and a cold, Olivia has a cold and Allen has been diagnosed with RSV and an ear infection.  It really is time for this cycle of sickness to be over.  We've also had to replace a broken toilet and fix a broken fridge in the last week.  Anyway, I know that the Lord is teaching us something and is sustaining us through it all.

We did venture out of the house Wednesday this past week to attend a Classical Conversations open house.  The kids and I really had a wonderful day and I was thoroughly impressed by what I saw.  Emma even said it didn't feel like school and she wanted to go back next week.  So, my excitement for school next year continues to grow.  Now I just can't wait to get my manuals and books so I can get organized and ready for the big change when fall comes.

The kids "helping" me give Allen a breathing treatment

I surrender

I surrender.  I give up.  Sickness continues to visit our house and I am tired of it!!  Quite literally. 

It all started about a week before Christmas.  We were at basketball practice and my throat started to hurt.  Thought it was just a cold.  This "cold"  lasted about 3 weeks and turned into one of the toughest respiratory infections that I have had in a long time.  Coughing became a frequent sound in our house.  At one point I even lost my voice.  Ryan thought that was pretty great!  :)  My body ached, I laid in bed, I had the cold chills.  Every time I thought I was getting better then, WAM, it would hit again.  After two antibiotics, a steroid shot, and a high dose steroid pack, I was on the mend. 

Since then Isaiah has had the cough and ache, and the pukes.  Emma has had the cough and ache, and then the high fever while feeling horrible.  Olivia has coughed and ached, pretty badly, and then she had the puke and fever.  Fortunately, little Allen only got goopy eyes and just recently a little cough and hoarse throat. 

That brings me to Ryan.  He has had all the above too.  Then today he came home from work (which he hardly ever does) with a fever and running to the potty, if you get what I mean. There has been a constant stream of sick people in my house for over a month.  We have had 3-4 days in a row here and there where all was well, but it never lasted long.  I didn't even get to go to church for something like 5 Sundays in a row!  That may be a record for me!!

I am so done with sickos in my house.  Starting to wonder when it will end??!!  Maybe we need to just hole up until it is warm outside again.  Spring can't come soon enough for me.

Cherished Day

Friday was one of those days.  The kind that I know I will cherish for years to come.  My big kids had been at Academy of Arts drama camp all week and on Friday they stayed ALL day; like 10am-midnight kind of all day!  I had spent the rest of my "free time" earlier in the week running errands and volunteering at the camp.  But Friday I was able to spend all morning playing with Olivia and Allen.  We played games, doctor, read books, colored, played in the snow, and showed Allen all sorts of toys while he rolled around.  It reminded me of my early days as a parent.  We never had much to do and Isaiah, Emma and I would play, dance, paint, sing, ect. 

Now that Isaiah and Emma are school age most of our time is consumed with school.  Not that I am complaining.  I love teaching my children and watching them learn and discover the world around them.  But I do miss just being able to play and I often feel badly for Olivia and Allen.  They don't get the same attention and individual time with me that the older two did.  I understand this is just a function of where we are in life, but that doesn't make it any easier!  So, I must make a commitment to be more purposeful with my little ones.

All that being said; I thoroughly enjoyed my time with my little guys on Friday and then that night I was treated to a wonderful play put on by the Academy of Arts students.  My older two had a wonderful week learning about set design, make-up, costumes, lighting, and acting.  They made friends, learned more about the Lord during chapel time, and learned some major teamwork!  Already, they are wanting to be signed up for next year!!  Overall, the whole day was a treat!!!

before the performance

the entire cast of "Basket of Flowers"

It's been too long-an update

It's been so long since I have paid attention to my blog that is almost seems pointless, but I still want to keep up with what's been going on around here!!  Halloween and Christmas have passed.  So have both of my girls birthdays.  The new year has started and it has been a time of reflection and thinking for me.  My days are consumed with preparing school curriculum for next year and pouring over a new diet book my sil gave me for Christmas.
This book has changed the way I think about food and the way I eat.  So far I have lost about 10lbs. and I still get to eat things like chicken broccoli alfredo with noodles and the ever so important, chocolate!!  You can go to trimhealthymama.com  to find out more!  It's a long read, about 600 pages, but worth every word!!  Serene Allison and Pearl Barrett (sisters who wrote the book) have tested all of this info on themselves and have tried almost every diet on earth.  For them this is a way of life, not a weight-loss plan.

When it comes to school I have decided to switch gears altogether.  So far I have used mostly Abeka with the kids which is traditional schooling.  We have used a couple of other things along the way, like Soaring with Spelling, Veritas History, and Apologia Science.  Over the last semester I was so thoroughly impressed by the caliber of work my niece and nephews were churning out in their new schooling venture with Classical Conversations. As the name implies this is a classical learning style, which is not something I completely understand yet, but I am so excited to start learning. The level of work that is expected of the student is high, and they also have a local co-op of sorts that meets once a week during the school year to provide our family with tutors, healthy competition, debate, and learning games in a group.  They do offer so much more but like I said I really can't fully understand it all until we start this fall.  As Isaiah moves toward the upper grade levels, Classical Conversations will help me challenge him in a way that I don't think I could do on my own!  Be praying for us....this change will be HUGE  for the kids.  We have essentially done school the same way since Isaiah was in kindergarten (that was over 6 years ago)!!!www.classicalconversations.com


That's enough update for now. Here are a few pictures of the last couple of months!