We Are Back, and Had a "First" Yesterday....

One of the last things we ended our whirlwind vacation with was one of our firsts.

Our first visit to the emergency room yesterday. And we did it out of state and out of insurance coverage area.

What happened? Nothing any one of us hasn’t experienced, but here is our story.

As you can see by the pictures, we spent our last full day enjoying a fountain with the squirty things that randomly pop out of the ground. Kids love it.

One of the first things we discovered when we arrived, it’s slippery. The colored swirly painted area is slick. As you can see by the beginning pictures, my kids don’t have their sandals on. After the first spill, we decided to put them on for traction.

Before we even arrived at this park, these two boys had an early wake up, got dropped off at someone’s house, and dragged to this park. It was a full day before we got here. BH was already on short fuse mode. His first spill made him mad and irritated.

Well, as I was beginning to think, we might need to go, get some lunch and rest, BH took a spill and bumped his head on the cement. He got up screaming. When he already has a short fuse, he usually reacts angrily at being hurt, which he did. So with hugs and kisses we packed it up, went to McDonald’s and to our friend’s house.

I promptly got BH ready for a nap and into bed. He was fighting me the whole time, which is normal. He also said his head still hurt. I told him the more he cried it would make it hurt. He eventually fell asleep.

Of course, his big brother then needed an electronic game that was in the room that BH was sleeping in. JM promised me he wouldn’t make a sound. Nope. I go back in, he is up. I talk him back to laying down and calming down. He still says his head hurts. I tell him I am sorry but a nap should help. He goes back to sleep.

No joke, five minutes later, older brother, JM, comes to tell me “Yep, he’s up again. I can hear him coughing.” I go in. BH is vomiting on a beautiful coverlet on my friend’s bed. Now, I am worried. For anyone out there, a head bump associated with vomiting usually means a concussion at least.

Okay, we clean up. I call my insurance company. They say, “Go to any emergency care or emergency room. Show them your insurance card. If there are any questions, have them call us.” Got it.

The first urgent care we went to refused our insurance. By this time, BH is falling asleep in the car and is hard to wake up. Another rule, someone who has had a brain injury, don’t let them sleep. UGH!

We get to the ER, forget urgent care whatevers! I sign us in, and my friend, JM, myself and BH sit in a waiting room full of sick people. I am overwhelmed. My case is no worse than anyone else’s but when will we be seen? BH is very hard to keep awake. I keep telling him to stay awake and not rest his head on me. I am not letting him sit in my lap and forcing him to stand. I am patting his back firmly like I am burping him. I am doing all I can to keep his eyes from shutting. I am extremely worried. He is extremely lethargic, and he is normally bouncing, and I mean it. Bouncing! This is not normal! He was deteriorating right before my eyes and it scared me.

Then he threw up again. A nurse came running to help. I was on the verge of tears. Please let us be seen soon! I think his vomiting helped. Within about five minutes we were taken to a room. My friend and JM were allowed to join us. So we chit chatted. The doctor came and did a check on him, watched how he walked, etc. Fortuitously JM let BH play a Nintendo DS game, which showed off that his dexterity was working nicely. But the vomiting was a concern, so he arranged for a CAT scan. By now BH is perking up and not so sleepy.

Within ten minutes, we were called to the CAT scan room. My itsy bitsy boy was laid on this huge machine with lead blankets put on him with his little sandaled feet sticking out. His huge eyes were all I saw at the other end. He understood that he needed to sit super still and the machine would move and hum. It did and all I saw were his huge eyes watching the machine. Then he came back out.

All is well. No problems. Just a mild concussion. Whewie! Now we called Dad! That was a relief for the kids to talk to him. When I called the hubbie I said, “I’ll give you five guesses where I am…..” Gave him the story, let the kids talk to him, etc. One nice thing I did think to ask for, copies of his CAT scan. They were able to burn a disk for me, which would be nice if something came up in the near future related to this.

We had one more vomiting incident that night. The kids fell asleep. We had a nice visit with some more friends. I had two mojitos, which were needed to calm my nerves. I don’t want to make that kind of trip again!

Firsts at my age are not usually welcomed!

I have so many other picture to share with you! I need to rest tonight, but more to come soon.

And the clock ticks....

We are on a plane at the crack of dawn Monday whether I am ready or not!

Laundry is humming in the washer. We need to take lots of things for the weather. Colorado at the end of August at a high elevation....it's early fall there. So the temperatures are in the nice 80's during the day, but can get down to freezing at night. There will be shorts and tshirts, and jeans and jackets too. That means a huge suitcase.

I also have about a dozen things I need to wrap up with my business before I go. That is always the hard thing right there. Especially this time. I won't have access to my cell phone or internet. No emails or anything!

This will be good for me.

I leave all of you with a hearty "have a great weekend!" and also "have a great week!". I'll be posting lots of glorious Colorado pictures when I return.

It Arrived!

There has been much stress in my little head over this box.

Connections Academy (CA) sends the curriculum, then emails you giving you the tracking number so you can track it. You need to be home to sign for it.

Sounds easy right?

Our dilemma, we didn't get the email. I have talked to other CA families who had their curriculum. I called CA twice and both times they let me know it was shipped on 8/11 but couldn't tell me the tracking number or resend the email.

Even worse, we are out of town very soon! If no one is here to sign for it, it goes back, and we get to start school way off course. There are only a few more "shipping" days that UPS will be able to get it to us.

Yesterday, I spoke with the head guy at CA who really was great at helping me out. He tracked down the tracking number and left me a voicemail saying he had it, and lo and behold, it would be arriving today. Luckily I was home, just in a quiet room attempting to get BH to take his nap.

Ain't it purdy? What is in the plastic baggie? Goggles for science experiments. Scary to think I'll be doing things in my home that require goggles, but let's not think about that. Also, cut off at the top is a top notch pair of headphones. Pretty sure that is to use online doing some conferencing with JM's teacher or "teachlets" where he watches a presentation online.

Here is one stinker, JM is famous for getting ahold of things, playing with them how they were not intended to be played with, and ruining them. Prime example, pencils. He gets into my desk, steals my pencils, then uses them as drumsticks. I usually find them leadless, eraserless, and chewed to bits in his room or on the floor. A million times, I have told him don't do that. I have given him one pencil for school and told him if he ruins it, then he owes me big time. It's making me a little mad lately because he knows he can't do that yet he continues to.

Same for headsets and goggles. I can recall a pair of each that have been absconded with in our home and ruined. Let's see how this goes. These have not been taken out of the package and won't be until needed.

Yes, I could put it in a high place where he can't reach or hide it. I know that. I might even do that if he can't do it for these items.

I also think he should know not to do something when I tell him not to. It's a fine line. Child of God did a post on this recently. That parenting voice inside our heads that say "am I helping my child develop good discipline in how to treat their things? Or am I teaching them that Mom will just put those things out of my reach?"

And that is the foot we will be starting homeschooling on. Lord help us!

Remember When You Were a Kid......

You would get something special and just love it to death?

I remember when I was about 6 and had gotten for my birthday a beautiful raincoat, that was fully plastic with pretty flowers on it. It also came with a floppy rain hat, speckled with the same gorgeous flowers. It also had the sweetest umbrella, and of course it matched. I paraded around in that outfit in the middle of September for weeks, when there is not a drop of rain to be seen in Colorado where I lived at the time. I remember getting made fun of by a mean family down the street from us. They didn't have the cool outfit I had you see.

Well, that happened today for our little guy BH. Since we are off to fly on an airplane soon, I have been mulling about how to get a week's worth of toys and clothes where it needs to go. I decided I need to take advantage of the fact that these kids are fare paying passengers, endowed with the same rights and privileges as myself. In other words, they are carrying some carry on luggage. JM has a suitcase on wheels already and a backpack. BH was another story.

I scored at Target today when I found a little suitcase on wheels, that came as a set with a tiny backpack and fanny pack for $20.00. Score! It also is speckled with spaceship stuff.

You would have thought I brought home Walt Disney himself. That backpack got packed with his favorite teddy bear, the suitcase got wheeled around, and the fanny pack got cinched to it's tiniest setting for his tiny little waist. For about two hours at least. Seriously cute!

Big brother was a bit put out that he didn't get something new and cool looking. So we broke out the foamy stickers and I let him put stickers all over his plain black backpack. Dodged a bullet on that because normally that would have been a screaming fit. We talked about how at the airport, the "policemen" will need to check the packs to make sure they are safe, so we need to do what they say, take them off, etc. So JM stickered the word "police" on the pack so they would know it needed to be checked, or something like that.

My son....accessorizing....

There will be stowaways on this trip. We have a blue bear as well that might be on this flight.

It's literally a fanny pack!

Okay, so why can't we get on the plane NOW!?

More accessorizing the accessories with foam stickers.

Neighborhood Update

Many of you have been very sweet and kind to call me and ask what is going on in the old neighborhood. I have told those folks personally, but for some reason I think I just need to not post it on the world wide web.

But an update, and it's not much. The police have come to take statements from those they need to take statements from, and that is all we know. No word from them, no word on what is going to happen the (alleged) offender, who is still in the neighborhood.

That is what has us on edge. We need guidance and structure from the authorities, and this little slice of heaven I call my home is not on their priority list. So, we continue to wait, and wait in limbo.

We ask your prayers for peace, healing, guidance, and perseverance. We also ask that you help us to be Christ to those who need it, and it is for sure the victim's family, and possibly even the (alleged) offender's family.

One cool thing, I took my kids and a few neighbor kids up the street to a free showing of "Alvin and the Chipmunks." The kids liked it, and I liked the air conditioning.

School is Coming!

It just struck me the last twenty four hours or so that school is like two weeks away.

I have done the online tutorials that Connections Academy requires of their "Learning Coaches". I feel ready.

What hasn't happened, I haven't gotten the email saying my curriculum has been shipped. That normally wouldn't worry me except we will be out of town sometime soon. If I don't have the curriculum beforehand, I can't take it with me to do on our trip. Then what? Well, I had a freak out moment. Attendance is very important to this program.

What did I do today to stop my freak out moment? I went online to our little family's homepage for Connections Academy and saw the scheduler (yes, they schedule all of this for you with lots of flexibility) was ready to be run. I set aside the couple days that we wouldn't be in attendance. Then I ran the scheduler to accommodate those days. Voila! No more worries! School will start for us after Labor Day.

I also took a peek at the things we'll be doing the first days of school. It is getting exciting to think about! I am just hoping that JM sees that this is serious and not just a get out of school free card.

I am realizing that as I do some of the peeking ahead and reading a resource I got today in the mail, I need to clean out the filing drawers of the desk in the schoolroom. We will need files to keep track of and store items that need to be mailed back to his teacher, kept in a portfolio, etc. Part of the initial lessons are in how to keep organized, and that will be great for JM who honestly, is a slob. The first lessons talk about how keeping things in the right places and neat will help him in his learning. Nice!

It is getting fun to think about.

Two nice things. The vacation we have scheduled coming up will help divert us away from the junky stuff my previous post eluded to. Things are progressing slowly there, and there are still a lot of unanswered questions.

Seriously, I won't have to have my first few days of ever homeschooling to be in front of my parents in a remote place in the middle of the Rocky Mountains. That has given me a freak out moment more than you know.

So far, I am excited and ready for my vacation and homeschooling and the two won't meet.

Need of Prayer

Please pray for our neighborhood. Specifically the friends and families we have gotten to know very dearly in the last few years. We have a serious "situation" that has just exploded in the last few days. In the words of a neighbor "This is so serious. This is so so serious." He is right.

Things are very much in the beginning stages. There are allegations that need to become substantiations. I feel very lucky and blessed that it seems we dodged the main bullet. However, near and dear friends of ours have not. Our hearts and prayers go out to them. Please pray for our neighbors, because they are hurting deeply. They are not Christians. One blessing in all of this, it is a chance for our family to be Christ to them.

We are also walking a fine line of how to "be" with our kids. Let God's wisdom shine in our hearts about that. I want my kids, and the neighbor kids, to look back on this time and remember their parents handling this well.

I don't know if I'll ever publish on my blog the whole story. I might be able to do a summary later. It is a sensitive thing. But it's dark, ugly and victimizing. We need God to intervene and show grace, mercy and healing.

Want to Laugh??

I just found one of the funniest blogs around. I stumbled across this last night while closing down the office, and had to take my laptop to bed. The hubbie and I giggled for about another forty minutes.

Basically, it is a blog dedicated to showing really bad house listing pictures. One would think this wouldn't be an issue. But apparently it is because this blogger posts prolifically!

We scrolled down each page and kept clicking "older posts" until we were laughing loudly. How about the half million dollar home that has a picture of a bathroom, with the toilet seat up (tacky!) and the toilet isn't flushed! How about the bathroom that is so badly beaten up it only has a toilet in it described as a "fixer upper". How about the house that is on the market, yet shows clearly signs from the city declaring it unsafe because it was a meth house. And we're trying to sell it? The house that all the walls are mirrors? What? It's funny beyond belief.

Oh my word, I haven't laughed that hard sitting at my computer in a long time.

Wanna see it? Here it is: lovelylisting.blogspot.com.

I will put on my blogroll too.

Why we are homeschooling again??

Three weeks before school is to begin the tally from last year is in. Schools in my state are slowly getting on board and improving academically.

Click here for the news. In summary, schools are improving. The list of schools that are still on the list of needing improvements--our children would be required to attend one of the high schools on that list.

Additionally, the junior high our children would attend is right now on a list of four schools about to be closed down for lack of funding in our school district. I have no idea where those children would be transferred to since I don't know where the nearest junior high is from there. I am sure it's not close by since I know my neighborhood geography pretty well.

Keep in mind, the standard is for 60 percent of kids to be at grade level. That is barely above fifty percent of kids attending schools. What about the other forty? They aren't performing at grade level, that is two out of five kids. That seems like a lot to me. Is this really good news?

Am I going to do much better? I honestly don't know. My kids may not meet standardized testing requirements. That is a possibility as a homeschooling family. But I have a much more vested interest in making sure they do.

All this renovating of my house can't be for nothing!

I Don't Understand

Here is my list:

I don't understand why kids fight parents on simple issues. They will put more effort into the fight than would take to do the actual thing being asked.

I don't understand people who cut me off in traffic then give me the universal sign. What? Why?

I don't understand why when I go to pay my online bills the day they are due, their system is down. Why can't the due date be the one day we choose not to do maintenance on the website?

I don't understand why people tailgate me in my neighborhood. I will not do thirty five on a narrow residential street. Back off!

Why do people drive recklessly anyway? Why? Has anyone lost as many friends as I have to car accidents? I am sure we all have. So why don't we learn from that and just drive normally? Why?

I don't understand why Mary Kate Olsen won't talk to the feds about what she knows about Heath Ledger's death. She wants immunity from prosecution??? In the words of Dr. Phil, "People who have nothing to hide, hide nothing."

I don't understand a lot of human behavior. I have really been hurt by several people/friends lately, and I just don't understand it. I think more than that, I don't understand why they don't want to resolve it.

I don't understand why my cat meows at me at 1-2 pm in the afternoon incessantly, when she doesn't get fed until 5 pm. She gets locked in the basement when she does that. Problem. My office is now in the basement.

By the way, why do cat boxes smell incessantly? Yet, when cats "go" outside, it subsides. Why?

I don't understand why my kids like to destroy pencils and erasers. Makes me concerned for homeschooling.

I don't understand why Hannah Montana and High School Musical are the rage. I think there could be worse, for sure, but why?

I don't understand why Wii's are so hard to find. Why?

I don't understand why gas is more expensive where I live than other places. I don't understand why milk is $5 a gallon on the east coast, and $3 here. Plus, why is it so expensive? We aren't have a milk crisis with the cows? I know, it's because the gas to drive it to my grocery store went up. I know!

I am feeling the need to be inquisitive....certainly don't feel the need to answer these. I am sure someone knows the analytical reason why Wii's are scarce and would live to give me the five point outline on why. This is just the mood I am in.

School House

Here is our school room "before" meaning this morning about mid morning. These are panoramic photos in a small room, so it's a little distorted but you can see the whole room.

I have to say, I regret that I didn't take the most embarassing "before" shot. The shot that shows the area below the window obscured by a table full of undone stuff. A lot of it ended up getting sorted on the desks to the left. I felt so good to actually be able to vacuum floor I hadn't seen in years.

For those of you who have seen this room as my former office, you will remember there were times when the only path to get in was between the door and the chair to the desk. There was no cleared space other than that. Why? I am not a super tidy person, but honestly, when you run a hectic business like I do, cleaning up incidentals becomes very secondary. Yes, it drove me nuts, but cleaning up my office has never made me money. Simple as that.

This is the now school room. The two chairs had been in our garage after being replaced by new chairs in our living room. Once I realized we would have space for them, I cherished the idea of having a reading area in this room. So to the far left, you can see the new printer I set up today and the laptop and the printer are the only big things on this desk (besides the DSL modem with the wireless router sitting on top of it).

Again, if you have been in my office before this big conversion, many times there was no space on the desk, just several piles of things that were secondary on my "to do" list.

Where is all that junk/undone things/etc? Good question. I sorted and sorted this morning. I ended up shredding/recycling most of it. Why? Because it was so outdated it was irrelevant. You can see on the panorama of the basement the small pile on the table to the right. Several things in there need to be dealt with, but my! I can do that!

Yes, to answer your question, my treadmill is right in the middle of my office space. I am hoping that has some lasting effects.

This has been a project that has been in my brain for over a year and it had to happen. I could not feel that unorganized and behind on my paperwork, and start homeschooling. I probably could practically, but I might have needed to be medicated.

I have to honestly thank T. She came to my house early last fall and hemmed and hawed around my house. Showed me a very good place in my basement to stick my desk, which I hadn't seen. Her vision has been with me this whole year as I have mulled and worked on this.

I also have to say, I can do a "neener neener" to her as well, and I think she'll be okay with that. She honestly didn't think the table with all the junk on it could make it space wise into the basement practically. Well, several more trips to Goodwill and another good purge (which she questioned if I could do, I swallowed hard and said yes) put the table comfortably in the basement. She also questioned if the chairs could go in the office, because again, it would require a whole lot on my part. I am proud to say, I did it. Thank you, T!

Can you tell I feel so good about this? I do. I am so proud of myself for getting this done. Honestly, my poor husband has been sick through most of this. He has moved a few things up and down the stairs, but mostly he's been keeping kids out of my way while I keep the vision going. Thanks to him as well. I can tell that once that table went downstairs today and the chairs came out of the garage, he could feel the end in site.

We both feel like if the school curriculum landed on our porch today, we could start schooling right now. We are about 95% complete. I still need to move a few things around inside of drawers and finish that small pile sitting downstairs. But the worst back-breaking part is over.

I have no idea what to do with myself tomorrow.....well, I do. I have to conduct a meeting tomorrow night. But you get my drift.

Cheesy, Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

From start to finish....

4 to 5 chicken breasts, boiled, skinned and diced
12 flour tortillas
1 lb jack cheese
12 T chopped green onions
1/2 c butter
1/2 c flour
4 c chicken broth
1 c sour cream
1-4 oz can of green chillies
1/2 c salsa
1 can olives, sliced

Using all the chicken, cheese, and green onions in equal portions, fill each tortilla. Roll it and place in shallow baking dish. Melt butter over medium heat and add flour, stirring constantly. Add chicken broth and make thick sauce. Remove from heat and add sour cream, chillies and salsa. Stir until smooth. Pour over tortillas and cover with olives. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes.

Ummm...yum!

Blackberries!

Several years ago I got a really good deal in a seed catalogue for 6 or 8 thornless blackberry plants. I was so excited. Blackberries grow like weeds where I live, and I could go find a patch anywhere and pick them.

But I usually need a body glove and a tetanus shot. The thorns are horrible. For sure, there is no way I would take the kids. I jumped on this deal when I saw it and planted the 2 foot tall things in my backyard.



We are on our fourth or fifth growing season with them. They are well over our heads, and this summer will definitely be the first to product some serious fruit. I picked my first bowl yesterday, and as you can see by the branches, there will be many more bowls to come.