Just venting

I am sooo tired of The Princess' headache. She is, too. Today, it got to an 11 on a scale of 1-10. I darn near took her to the E.R. She started shivering, then fell asleep, and woke up feeling a little better.

Later, she was able to go to a class she takes, and then in the evening the headache came back with a vengeance. She drank two glasses of black iced tea at 10:30 p.m. and it went away. I wonder if she's able to sleep. She has to get up early in the morning to babysit!

I called her pediatrician today, who, by the way, I love. She was so understanding. I told her about the neuro and drug he wanted to put her on, and that we wouldn't be doing that. She didn't try to talk me into it, but did say, "I don't prescribe that drug." Hmmmm....

We'll be doing blood work in the next few days. I'm praying we can find answers. This poor kid wants to get back to her life, and I want to stop stress eating.

Blessings to you all.

HE IS RISEN! HE IS RISEN, INDEED!!!

We went to an Easter Vigil last night at 11 p.m. It was lovely, and moving, and uplifting. As we entered the church, we were each handed a small bell. The church was dark until the end of the service, and when they turned all the lights on, everyone rang their bells. After hearing of God's preparation of His people for the sacrifice of his Son (the Passover, and then the exodus, and then Jesus' death and resurrection), and being amazed at his provision, what a wonderful way to celebrate Jesus!

And since it's my blog, and I can do whatever I want with it, I want you to know that the One who died for you longs to know you personally. If you don't know Jesus personally, please introduce yourself to Him. He's only a prayer away.

"That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Romans 10:9

Have a blessed, beautiful Easter!!!

Just when I think my kids aren't learning a thing...

At about 9:30 p.m. last night, The Princess emerged from her chambers and asked me if I could find her a dictionary. The last time I checked, the dictionary was in her room, but there's no telling what black hole it fell into (there are many in her abode; that's the only explanation for the many, many missing items over the years). I found a "Student" dictionary, and handed it to her. I followed her to her room and said, "What do you need a dictionary for?"

Are you sitting down?

My daughter - the one with the headache, the one who is unnaturally preoccupied with eye shadow and lip gloss these days, the one who changes clothes ten times before leaving the house, the one who can dance like an angel - is reading "The Federalist Papers." Not because she has to. Not because I told her to. No. She is reading "The Federalist Papers" because she is interested in early American history, and how the country's parties were formed.

She did the same thing with the Narnia books a few years ago. She read them all. Then read them again. Then, I started looking for other Narnia resources. There's an entire homeschool curriculum based on the Narnia books called "Further Up and Further In." She did that for awhile. I found books that used the Narnia series as a basis for other study, and she ate those up, too.

That led to a love of all things "The Inklings." If you don't know, C.S. Lewis was one of "The Inklings," a club of sorts consisting of writers who got together on a regular basis to discuss their writings. J.R.R. Tolkien was one of them, as was Edith Nesbitt. So, The Princess started reading Edith Nesbitt. She hasn't dug into J.R.R. Tolkien yet, but I think she will eventually.

So, I guess I ought to stop worrying that we don't do enough here for school. The Princess especially has a growing love of learning, and that's my ultimate goal. That, and a love of God.

Blessings!

The Miracle (NOT) of Modern Medicine

The Prince got better, and the Princess started with the fever, etc. *sigh* And of course, we have our old friend the-never-ending-frickin'-headache that is still with us.

This is the headache info up to this point:

1. Headache began approximately 7-8 weeks ago;
2. Went to pediatrician, who put her on antibiotics for 10 days for a perceived sinus infection;
3. Antibiotics did NOTHING;
4. Pediatrician referred The Princess to a neurologist, who promptly ordered an MRI;
5. MRI was totally and completely normal, brain and sinuses included;
6. Neuro prescribed a drug which is not recommended for children under 18, 'cuz it causes suicidal thoughts;
7. And right there, I lost all trust in modern, traditional medicine (and she won't be taking said drug);
   
8. I made an appointment with a Chinese acupunturist/herbalist. Unfortunately, he doesn't have an appointment until 4/2.

So, although the headache persists, she seems to be functioning a little, tiny bit better. She isn't back to her regular energetic self, but we're getting there.

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I wanted to give a shout out to my high school friend, Terre. She and I made connections again awhile back. It's so neat to re-connect with someone who I considered one of the nicest people in high school. I don't have one bad memory of Terre. She was and is an exceptional human being. Unfortunately, she lives far away, but we keep in touch on the phone. Love ya, Terre.

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Work for me is picking up, which is why I haven't had as much time to blog (not that I'm that consistent anyway). I really don't want to get too busy with work, since the kids do need me to help with school and stuff. It's such a hard thing, finding a balance.

That's it for me for now. The Princess and I are headed to a "Mary Kay Cosmetics" party. Have a blessed Easter, if I don't get back here before then!

HE IS RISEN!!!!!!!!!!!

Adventures in Babysitting

Well, in addition to dealing with The Princess's never-ending headache, we now have The Prince down and out with the flu, AGAIN. What the heck!!!??? Poor guy has a fever, pounding headache, runny nose and sore throat.

We had the five darling Gombojav kids here yesterday, and they were so looking forward to playing at our house, because of The Prince. You might remember that three of the Gombojav kids spent some time at our house awhile back. The Prince loves to rough-house and is so good with younger children.

When The Prince woke up yesterday morning, he had what I thought was a migraine (he's gotten them over the years). I shipped him off to Grandma's so that the kids wouldn't disturb him. Well, we took his temp later on and realized he had a fever. Bummer. Grandma brought him home, and he laid on the couch and tried to sleep a bit.

The kids were really good, and we had a blast. I was a little worried about how to keep them busy all afternoon, but it worked out really well. We started out at the park. There were threatening clouds above, but we risked it, and I'm so glad we did!




The Princess helping three of the boys onto the tire swing.
















Captain enjoying the swing!















Ihbeleg laughing and laughing. I was pretending to grab his toes. He thought that was soooo funny! I tried to do a little video, but I couldn't concentrate on making him laugh and filming at the same time.












Meg and Izzy on the tire swing. They were screaming at the top of their lungs!



Captain in the sand. He "borrowed" this little rake from someone in the park. :-)





















I know you're not supposed to let the kids slide face down, but we're homeschoolers, and that's how we roll. :-) Meg was hanging out on that ladder just like the Princess was the day before. It must be a girl thing.
















Lucas kept saying "Take my picture!" He moved around so much that I got the fewest pictures of him! The Princess called to me, and then held Ihbeleg up above the side of the play equipment. Can you tell he's having a ball?!






That's Ihbeleg walking along the side of my kitchen. He was fascinated with the sound of the dishwasher.

And that's Daja and Gana, the handsome parents of all these cute kids. You can see where they get it. :-)




So, I think I've posted more pictures of this family than their mom posts on her blog! I was showing Daja and Gana the pics of the kids I had taken yesterday, and I couldn't believe how many pictures I have of them in my camera! We are in the same homeschool group, so we see them pretty frequently, and obviously, I love taking pictures of her kids. :-)

Be blessed!

At the park

One of the things I love about homeschooling is that my kids get to spend a lot of time together. The Prince and the Princess have had their squabbles. Their fights are usually pretty short-lived, and they usually end up laughing.

I didn't have this kind of fun with my brother at my kids' ages. He was pesky, and I'm sure he thought I was horrid. We didn't do anything together; I just wanted him out of my room, and away from my friends. Ack, it sounds awful, but that's what I remember.

These two, on the other hand, kinda like each other's company:











The Prince hasn't always been as daring as he is these days. And, he certainly doesn't take after his mother. I skinned my knees so badly as a little kid by jumping off swings, that I just didn't do it as I got older. We had black top to land on in kindergarten. My, how things have changed.


Yep, that's my boy! You can call him "Superman." I could not believe how high off the ground he was in a few of these pictures.


The Princess is all about finding a way to relax, no matter where she is:

Not sure how comfortable this was, but it sure looks cool. :-)

We're going to have some cooler, wet weather this weekend. I'm hoping to starting some gardening (for the first time in my life) next week. I want to build a planter for the front of my house. The Gearhead tells me my plan sounds kinda "ghetto." Nice, huh? I'll post pics, of course, if my plan ever gets off the ghetto, I mean, ground.

Scrapbook - FINALLY

I took a few pictures of the scrapbook I did for my dad. You will be underwhelmed, I assure you. It's nice and all, but in this case, I didn't spend a whole lot of time. I had to do 33 or so pages in two days, so it was utilitarian.




This is the letter from my aunt to my dad (her brother), along with a picture of their family. My grandfather died when my dad was only 15, and my aunt was 11 or so. The letter is pretty touching.








This letter was from a long-time friend of my dad's. They are elderly and don't fly anymore, but would have come from Maryland to the party, if they could have. The gentleman called my dad in the middle of the party, and called us a number of times in the days before to see how the plans were coming. :-)














Read this letter. This man and the "Don" referred to in the letter came from Northern California for the party, with their wives. Dad didn't get enough time to talk to them, unfortunately. I'm hoping they can get together again.


















This was our French exchange student when I was a sophomore in high school. He drove me crazy (he really liked me, and I had a boyfriend). My parents still keep in touch with him. He's a steward for a French airline, so he comes to L.A. now and then, and he and my folks meet up for lunch or dinner. (I don't know why this is underlined.)



















This is my goofy cousin and his family. He wrote a letter, as well, but I just took pics of some of the pages that were kinda pretty, not just writing.











Okay, that's it. Toldja it wouldn't be exciting, but at least I finally did it!

More Sleepover Madness!!!!

Here are some more pics from the sleepover...and its aftermath:

Fun with weird make-up at 2:00 a.m., or so.

"Tag," all grins.

"Punk" and The Princess - super punchy.

"Tag" and "Punk" These two have been friends since they were little kids, and yet they and the Princess mesh beautifully. I love these girls.

Girly pile!!!!! No psychotic girls were injured during the making of this conglomeration.

They had to try really hard not to crack up here. This is what you call goth, at least that's what they tell me. You have no idea how far from these girls' personalities this picture is.

And this was Sunday after church. After just four hours sleep.

Yeah, it was like that. An ugly sleep it was. Snoring, talking in their sleep, etc. I should have gotten video, but I was too tired to be that clever.

I wanna have another sleep-over! It was sooo much fun! My daughter tells me I'm a freak. Little does she know, people say we're a lot alike...

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So, speaking of fun...I had a really neat realization a few days ago. The Gearhead and the Princess are headed to Texas for a car show. They'll be gone about 6 days. I'm thinkin', "I wonder what I can do with the Prince while they're gone. Hmmmm..." and then it hits me! He has a weekend trip with the youth group from church. During the same time the Gearhead and the Princess are gone. Soooo, I'll have Friday, Saturday and Sunday to myself. No kids. No husband. Just me. mwahaha. I told a couple friends about this amazing occurrence, and the first comment? "Do you drink wine?!!" Uh, yeah! Me thinks another partay is in my future.

Just so my gentle readers (all two of you) don't get the wrong idea, I'm not a big drinker. I do enjoy a glass of wine now and then, but nothing too radical (at least not anymore). :-) I may have a few girlfriends over though, and we may have a glass of wine. That is all.

SLEEPOVER!!!!!

Do not be alarmed. I have not allowed alcohol or drugs into my home, though the following video may imply it:




That's me, singing "Metal Health," and then laughing hysterically. The Princess is having her friend, who I'll call "Punk," spend the weekend while her folks are out of town. We've been having a good time.

We watched "Across the Universe," with another friend, who I'll call "Tag." Then Tag's mom came over. And we kept watching the movie. And we kept wishing for it to be OVER. It was very, very long, and very, very weird. 'Nuff said.

Hope the video entertains. :-)

Better late than never, Sniz Darlin'

THIS IS MY SECOND POST TODAY: PLEASE DON'T MISS THE ONE BELOW THIS ONE.



Sniz tagged me a long time ago it seems, for this meme.

The LOOK AT THIS STUFF! ISN'T IT NEAT? meme

1. Find five things around your house (relatively) that say something about the person you are and snap a picture of them.


2. Tell us about them.


3. Link back to me in your post so I can be all nosy.


4. Tag five (or more...or less...I'm easy like Sunday morning, my loves **me too - Claire**) folks via their comments and tell us who you tagged.

1. This isn't in my house, but I hope to live in the house of the One who created it someday. :-)

2. I would not be married to this man (17 years this Sunday!) if he didn't make me laugh. A lot. Everyday. He'd be dead by now, and I'd be in prison, and our children would be raised by my crazy brother.

3. These are the shelves above the toilet in our bathroom. Too much stuff, and I really don't need y'all comin' over and looking at my personal hygiene thangs. So....

3(a). ...after years of wanting something to cover up the personal stuff, I designed and almost sewed these panels. There are two panels, so you can get into the stuff from the middle or either side. Two tension rods hold it in place. I almost sewed it, because I took it to my mom's so she could help me, but I got sick the next day, so she finished it.

4. This is the Princess (who will kill me when she sees these pics on here). When she was little, I read her an alphabet book ad nauseum that had little rhymes to go with each letter, and each letter was an animal. She still remembers the millions of times she was required (and is still required, as you can see) to perform the above re-enactment of the letters F and G.

So, on the left (and you MUST say this out loud, at the top of your lungs): Frogs frowning!!!!
And on the right (again, at the top of your lungs): Gophers grinning!!!

It was a lot cuter when she was 2.

5. Ya see this very pretty curio cabinet? It has held various and sundry stuff for years, but I love it's current assortment of glass and crystal. It looks soooo pretty when the light is on. In the next BIG ONE, I will lose it all, but at least it looks pretty for now!

This is really only the second one directly about me. I bought this cabinet was I was 19 years old. I lived at home, and I worked at a fancy department store. It was a floor model, so I got it for cheap. I paid $25 per month for two years to pay it off. I nearly lost it during the Sierra Madre Earthquake in 1991, but it only popped open, and some of my wedding gifts fell out and were broken. The cabinet just rocked and rolled.

I'm not gonna tag anyone, 'cause this was a lot of work (obviously, since I didn't really follow the rules), and I gave up tagging for Lent. Not really.

Adventures of Mel the Dog

This is Mel. Or at least Mel's rear-end.

And what is Mel doing, you ask? He's hunting LIZARDS!!!!!!!

The kids and I were screaming, "Get 'em, Mel, get 'em!!!!" And he was trying with all his might. 'Cause he's a good dog, and always does what he's told (NOT).

He kept getting deeper and deeper into the wood pile. It was really quite funny. His tail was flipping around, and we could hear him making funny grunting noises.

Isn't his tail pretty?

He finally started coming out of the wood pile. What happened next is startling...and I didn't get a picture of it, because I was SCREAMING AT THE TOP OF MY LUNGS!!!!!! Mel caught himself a big, juicy lizard. It's arms, legs and tail were hanging out of his mouth. I got in the house as quickly as I could, since I KNEW he would be presenting me with his catch, and I just didn't want that kind of present!!!

I sure wish I had gotten that last picture, but you will just have to take my word for it.