Homeschool Gardener

Things I Miss

2012-01-12T12:14:00.000-05:00

In being sick for such a long time there are some things I discovered. I miss things. Not physical things but life things. Here are the things I'm missing after 3 years of dealing with Lyme and co-infections.

Making my own decisions. Oh sure I make hundreds of small decisions a day but in reality I've had much taken away. I had no choice but to give up my nursing career of almost 20 years. I miss the adrenaline rush and I miss helping people. Decisions should be mine.
I've had no real choice in my treatment plan. Even now, my LLMD tells me what she thinks is best, I may get a choice on which path but reality is if I don't do this, this disease might kill me.
What I feel I can and can't do on any given day. Somedays I feel well enough to venture to a store. Other days, putting on socks exhausts me. I don't get to decide that. My body does. I'm merely there to cooperate with it or suffer the consequences of poor self care.
Keeping a facade. Lyme patients have to have a facade. In a sense it keeps me sane because for a few moments I get to be normal and like everyone else. People look at me and say, "You don't look sick." Sometimes I am grateful for that. If I sit and think about the magnitude of this disease and what it's done to my family, life and relationships I can get very depressed. But my kids and husband need me and if I spend every waking moment crying I'm not much use to them. They do see me cry and struggle and see me at my most raw moments. But there is still life to live. My facade is holding up just fine thank you.
I miss thinking. Lyme fog is awful. Cognition is non existent at times. I live my life by sticky notes and wonder some days if my thoughts will make it from my brain, down my arms and onto the keyboard or paper. If it does-will it make sense? What did I forget today? I'm still volunteering at church and in the homeschool community (by computer mostly) because it keeps my brain active and people still value my opinions (I hope). It makes me feel like I'm still contributing in some way and that my brain still has a few active cells left.
Playing. I miss playing ball and running (any physical activity really) with my kids and being able to go see their activities.
Traveling. Anywhere.
Being spontaneous. Not that I was every really spontaneous. Those that know me know I am the well planned out girl. But sometimes it would be nice to just get in the car and go without having to worry about when the next dose of medication is due or to take the kids out for icecream instead of knowing that the trip will be too much for me. With being spontaneous comes planning ahead. I can't do that either because I never know how I will feel.
I miss my hobbies. Gardening especially. Digging in the dirt is very cathartic and meditative for me. Growing the food is providing something for my family.
I miss being trusted. Trusted to know that I was/am ill, trusted by my doctors, trusted by family and friends to know that I am making the right decisions for me at this very moment.

At this moment, it's all I can do.
Bev

Lyme Update

2012-01-01T11:55:00.000-05:00

I thought I would post this photo of my what my Friday morning routine looks like when the IV nurse comes to draw blood and change my PICC line dressing.

I'm holding my own for now. I saw the Lyme specialist on Friday. We (she) is doubling my dose of IV Doxycycline and adding in 2 more oral antibiotics. Since I had such a bad Herx reaction a year ago on IV Rocephin she is taking it slow. We did a few months of oral antibiotics, eased into the IV and now we pull out the big guns. I learned my brain lesions were in my frontal lobe. Well that explains a lot. She told me to prepare for some days of suckiness.

A few things have improved. My pain level is a bit better, I'm walking a bit better and I don't get chest pain and palpitations 24 hours a day now. I haven't had a Bartonella/Lyme rash in over 2 weeks. Small blessings but at least I know the meds are starting to work. And my kidneys and liver are so far holding their own and not protesting too much from all the meds so I guess that's good too. How frustrating though that it's been 5 months of various treatments and the meds are JUST starting to work.

Things that have worsened are my headaches and I'm having tremendous difficulty with processing, word finding difficulty and following conversation. I forget words and transpose letters in typing. Yesterday I could not make a coherent sentence. It was kind of frightening in a "I'm having a stroke" sort of way. My typing skills have also deteriorated. Blog posting is painful and tiring. My vision has also significantly worsened, much worse after my IV dosing. My brain feels swollen.

It perhaps is.

I'm tired.

It's a tired I can't explain to people other than to say, "Run a marathon...then do it again as soon as you finish."

My family is feeling the stress of doing what I cannot. Laundry, chores, running errands, my crankiness and mood swings. It's a life change for all of us. I'm grateful for them.

2012 has arrived. I am fighting this. I have to. It's taken up too much of my time and my life. I will endure what ever suckiness it feeds to me. I am stronger than this. I will be stronger than this.

Bev

Brussels Sprouts delux

2012-01-01T11:22:00.000-05:00

This is my favorite recipe for Brussels Sprouts. Even if you hate sprouts you will love this recipe.

Ingredients:

1 large stalk of Brussels Sprouts or a frozen bag will do.
1/2 pound of bacon
Salt and pepper
Chopped garlic
1/4 head of shredded red cabbage
2 lemons

This Christmas I found these great Brussels still on the stalk.

To prepare the Sprouts, snap off each head and place in a bowl. Give the rest of the leaves and stalks to the chickens. They need a Christmas treat too.

Give them a good wash and peel off the outside waxy and damaged leaves.

Shred the cabbage and cook it with the bacon in a cast iron pan. Seriously, invest in a good cast iron pan because it makes all the difference in the world.

Cut off the end core of the Sprouts and discard.

Add the garlic to the pan and continue to cook until the bacon is crispy.

Really crispy.

I mean I guess if you were vegetarian you could omit the bacon...eh nevermind.

Don't make this if you are vegetarian.

Score a cross hatch in the core end of the sprouts. Don't cut all the way through or you sprouts will fall apart. The scoring helps them cook through.

Add the sprouts to the bacon, cabbage, garlic mixture in the cast iron pan.

Cook until bright green.

Sidenote: if your mother used to cook sprouts, broccoli and cabbage until it was gray in color and mushy please note that this is gross and not the correct color.

Green vegetables should still be bright green after cooking. You will need to cook the sprouts for about 10 minutes on the stove top.

Add 1/4 cup of water and a lid. This will help steam the sprouts a bit.

Place the whole pan of sprouts in the oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

Pull them out and they are all toasty roasty good.

I could have let mine roast a bit more but I actually like them a bit harder and greener.

When you take them out of the oven-give them a squirt of the juice of one whole lemon. They need the lemon to help with a the bit of bitterness in the sprouts.

Give each person a small wedge of lemon to put on their sprouts as well. Hot sprouts absorb the lemon juice that you added and they will need a bit more.

My kids devoured these.

You will too!

Bev

You Might Have Lyme Disease If:

2011-12-20T09:41:00.000-05:00

I found a great humourous article on http://infectiousoptimism.blogspot.com/p/chronic-badass-article.html
About how to be a lyme badass.

Here are a few more of my own.

You might have Lyme Disease if:

You have been to at least 10 different doctors, have received at least 10 different diagnosis and have been given at least 10 different medications to try at each appointment.
When somesome says, "Do you have anything for a headache?" and you produce 50 pill bottles of various items.
You spend more on prescriptions than you do on your food bill.
You accidentally cut your PICC line in half while cuttting off the saran wrap used to cover the PICC line so you could shower and feel human.
You single handedly fix the PICC line, reconnect, change the caps and successfully flush the line and get it working all before your nurse shows up for the day.
You have ever had your children decorate your IV pole for Christmas.
Your family and friends have renamed you Jekyl and Hyde because your emotions are so labile they never know who they are dealing with.
You have researched so much about Lyme disease and co-infections that you have to verse your Primary Medical doctor on the current testing methods and how to read a Western Blot test.
Your current symptom list is now longer than Santa's Naughty and Nice list.
Exhaustion is so profound that you've fallen asleep in the middle of a speech...that you were delivering.
You've ever put popsicles in the silverware drawer or orange juice in the bathtub.
Pole dancing takes on a whole new meaning for you.
You have 500 sticky notes pasted all over your house so you can remember things.
You run out of sticky notes because you can't remember to buy them when you are at the store.
When people say "you look great" you want to secretely bash them.
Your children can recite your medication regime in it's entirety.
You are unable to use both hands to type and even if you can, the email appears to have been written by a first grader.
Putting on socks exhausts you.
You've put cat food in your cereal bowl.
You've been barfing for days yet still manage to eat 3 meals a day.

Bev

To Thine Own Self Be True

2011-11-30T20:38:00.000-05:00

I saw the Ophthalmologist in Boston on Monday. I was grateful to find him as he specializes in Lyme Vision problems. Might I add that 6 people in the waiting room also had Lyme. I had to sit through the rantings of the crazy lady next to me who insisted that Lyme doctors and all the patients with Lyme were "a cult." I wanted to whip out my MRI and show her my lesions. Actually I wanted to shove the MRI down her throat but instead I sat there and shook my head and bit my lip. It wouldn't have done any good to talk to this loon bin. Of course then she went on to say that she once had Lyme and took the IV antibiotics but they made her nauseous so she stopped. Nausea? Really? I would take a round of nausea any day over this. Then she went on to say that she was then diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and not lyme. Uh-huh. Good luck uninformed person-good luck to you.

For quite a while I've had bad eye pain, blurred vision and horrible floaters. I haven't been able to drive in several weeks. The Lyme specialist suggested I go to Boston so another day off of work for my husband and a field trip.

I wasn't happy with the outcome. I feel like every time I go to the Doctors it's more bad news. After two hours of painful drops, dilated pupils, bright lights and flashes socked into my eyes, pressure measurements and photos of the back of my eyeballs...

His diagnosis was that I have retinal hemorrhages and small vessel disease. All of this is caused by still active brain lesions despite 5 weeks of IV antibiotics. He gave me the pretty pictures with hand written notes to bring back to my doctors. He also warned me that I would need months of antibiotics considering I had 4 tick illnesses. But I knew that.

I wonder how much less suffering I would have to go through had my doctors, maybe even one doctor just treated me appropriately with antibiotics or believed me when I didn't improved. I wonder if I would have brain lesions or would have lost my vision or the hundred other physical complaints I have. I wonder if I'll ever be able to run with my kids again or just take a walk with the dog or not be profoundly exhausted when I fold laundry.

To Thine Own Self Be True. I should have listened to that voice deep inside me who knew something was very wrong. I shouldn't have let doctors talk me into a diagnosis that I knew wasn't correct. Lesson learned. To Thy Own Self Be True.

Lyme Lasagna

2011-11-12T09:18:00.000-05:00

Lyme Lasagna. Sounds appetizing doesn't it? My Lyme story gets longer and longer with twists and turns and many layers...like a lasagna. One layer of the story doesn't work without the other.

I've finished week 2 of antibiotics and had my check up with the Specialist. I cannot convey the feeling of general crappiness that I feel. The Nurse Practitioner that I see was quite pleased with my Herx symptoms-herxing means the antibiotics are working. I'm glad someone is enjoying them because in all honesty this is a horrifying process and if I didn't have a really strong support system I don't know how I would get through it.

I'm back in my angry phase. I'm wondering how 9 doctors could have decided to NOT treat me. Nine doctors-not one or two but nine. I'm wondering how after 28 different medication trials for Fibromyalgia that they didn't stop to think that Lyme could still be the culprit. They made that decision to not treat despite what was in front of them. Does anyone else find that shameful? What ever happened to "first do no harm". Their medical training teaches them to worry about the implications of long term antibiotics as harmful and to only rely on medical science for diagnosis I guess. What ever happened to listening to the patient? And in my case I had 3 positive co-infections documented and the Bartonella is pretty definitive based on symptoms and the classic rash I recently went through. I suppose I'm faking the brain lesions too.

I don't know what kind of function I'll get back after treatment.The NP already told me I was in a for a long haul. It's hard to be positive in the middle of treatment when you see little or no improvement. I know it's only week 2 so all the other lymies out there are telling me to be patient.

Treatment sucks. I'm tied to my house. You either spend your days hooking up your lines, infusing, playing with syringes, IV flushes, alcohol swabs, dragging an IV pole through your house, figuring out how to shower, managing spells of rage and crying, waiting for medical equipment deliveries, managing the symptoms from the die off, unhooking, more line flushing, waiting for IV nurses and dressing changes, submitting forms to insurance companies, fighting payments (or lack there-of), getting blood drawn, sleeping (or trying to sleep), or just trying to breathe. Put that on top of taking care of kids, home, cooking, everyday life-yeah you get the picture. Treatment is a full time job.

This week I'm dealing with bad headaches and neck pain, and awful chest pain and air hunger. I can't really call it shortness of breath. It's more like when you were a kid and you swam all day and then at the end of the day you tried to take a deep breath but couldn't because your lungs had had enough. It's that feeling that you can't take a deep enough breath. It's Lamaze breathing 24 hours a day. Walking to the end of the hall exhausts me.

My vision is awful with floaters, black veils, photophobia and blurriness. So now I have to see an Ophthalmologist in Boston that specializes in Lyme vision. The NP isn't hopeful that I will get my full vision back considering how long this has been brewing in my central nervous system with no treatment. Thanks so much sucky non-believing doctors. Spend a day in my shoes and see how long you survive or if you think your decision and former beliefs about Lyme were right. Oh and when you change your mind about what Lyme really is, then we'll make you wait 3 years for treatment. How does that sound?

After my initial 30 days of treatment are done, my IV dose of medication will be increased. Double dosing. O' Joy. Yep-herxing through the holidays. The NP let me know that I have to stay on antibiotics until I no longer have active symptoms and then she does pulsed therapy for how ever longer that takes. In the midst of treatment we do some repeat MRI's to see where we are. A very long haul.

I am trying to focus on that fact that I now have a NP that listens to me, that is treating me aggressively with antibiotics and who is hopeful for my future instead of the lyme naysayers. What I say to my former doctors-I'm not really sure and haven't decided. I'm not sure saying anything would help change their mind. Probably not butat the very least-they will have heard me.

One Week Down

2011-11-05T16:53:00.000-04:00

I've had my IV antibiotics for a week now. All I can say is wow. My MD warned me it would get worse before it got better. She wasn't kidding. Initially the antibiotics caused awful chest pain (not new to me just worse with the meds) and very bad shortness of breath. I had some weird virbrating muscle thingy going on (think your cell phone on vibrate all the time).

I'm on day 8 of antibiotics and feeling chained to my house for a couple of reasons. The antibiotics take an hour to come to room temperature and then take an hour (or so) to infuse and I get them twice a day. Depending on my symptoms, I may have to slow it down. So if I can't breathe, it takes longer for the meds to infuse. Not to mention the bouts of chest pain that send me into a total panic which makes it hard to breathe...and well you get the picture. Last night, oh the headache and neck pain! I can't even call it a headache. It knocked me straight into bed at 7:30 pm and left me in tears and the narcotics didn't even help.

Today was lots of fun (not really) with very bad blurred vision. My computer screen is enlarged to 200%. I'm hoping my vision will clear up as time goes on cause if not I'm screwed. I can't drive right now (be thankful America) and the exhaustion is terrible. The profound exhaustion is beyond words. I nap like an old woman.

Along with this comes the immense guilt and feeling of being a burden to my family. My husband is doing everything and he has never once complained. He's carting the kids to soccer and friends houses, grocery shopping, running errands, working full time and he hooks up my IV each morning and night. The kids have learned to disconnect me, yes even the 7 year old. And I'm completely irritable and cranky. Don't I sound like a joy?

Don't tell me (or any sick person) to not feel guilty or burdensome. It comes with the territory especially from someone like me who's always done a million different things at once. Yes, I know-slow down, take care of yourself. Please don't tell me that either because I really don't have a choice to do anything but that right now. I need to be responsible for my own decision making and will do what I feel I can handle.

I'm also asking that you not send me your alternative therapies, articles, potions, homeopathic remedies, magnetic bracelets, or suggest high doses of Vitamin C, ginger, tumeric or garlic- because it worked for you. I know you all mean well but it's all I can do to hold myself together at this point and processing one more piece of information isn't what I need to be doing.

The last thing a sick person needs to feel is that they are inadequate in their own decision making. I've had enough decision making taken away from me lately and in the past 3 years. Trust me, I've researched Lyme inside, outside and upside down. My Lyme Specialist is on top of it. I'll get through this.

I am drinking gallons of water with lemon every day. It's helping to detox. I'm eating high protein foods and staying away from yeasts and sugars that feed Lyme. I'm resting and doing all the things I'm supposed to.

Thanks for asking.

How Is Your Facade?

2011-10-27T16:22:00.000-04:00

It's been a long few months. After a recent visit to my Lyme Specialist, she's pretty sure I'm postive for Bartonella as well. The tell tale rash appeared after two months on 3 different antibiotics.

Last month she switched my medication regimen again. Blech. What a tiring mess. I have become the poster child for Lyme Disease. I'd rather be something else.

Today I went and had my PICC line placed.

The staff at the RI Vascular Institute were great. It took longer to take my history and prep my arm for the procedure. They gave me my first dose of medication today as well. All in all-it was pretty easy. My arm is sore tonight and I'm tired but that's about it.The IV nurse will be out tomorrow to change the dressing.

The medications will be twice a day for a month to start. I have a little PTSD thinking about my last round of IV meds and my 10 day hospital stay. I'm hoping it doesn't turn that way this time.

Last Sunday at church I spoke with a woman who had breast cancer. While I don't compare my illness to hers, we share a lot of the same symptoms and frustrations in just trying to get through our day.

I said to her, "How's your facade doing?" She started to laugh knowing that outwardly we look fine and even manage to do it all some days. Inwardly-we look and feel like hell. "My Facade is holding up quite well thank you."

For now-life continues. The kids are still happily homeschooling (most days), we are preparing costumes for Halloween and I chug along.

The Second Storm

2011-09-03T10:41:00.001-04:00

What a week here in Rhode Island. Hurricane Irene hit and knocked power out for a good portion of the State. We had been without power or water since Sunday and had it restored on Wednesday. We were fortunate to be able to shower and do laundry at a friends house. Many others just had power returned today.

Hauling water from the pool to flush toilets, boiling water for washing and cooking on the grill all were difficult for me and I relied on my teenager and husband to help. It's sobering for me to admit that-what I can't physically do anymore.

I noticed my leg muscles wasting away this week-lack of exercise and immobility. My arm muscles don't have any tone either-soft where there used to be definition. I feel like half the person I used to be.

Day 10 of my second month of antibiotics was going fairly well. The small twitches and low grade fevers, shortness of breath and chest pain have become common place. On some rare days it trades places with brain fogginess, deep pain and skin rashes. Somedays they visit all at once. It's amazing to me what you can get used to.

This is me. I'm posting this horrible picture because well-it's where I am. It's not who I am but...that's me. Left eye drooping with a facial rash.

Last night the second storm hit. Not a weather storm or hurricane but the Herx storm. I don't even know what time it was but I got up last night from my bed and had a need to vomit. Thankfully I didn't but I quickly lost my blood pressure yet somehow made it back to my bed. I was disoriented and woke up Larry. I think I scared him from the look on his face. I can only imagine what I looked like.

I was jerking and shaking violently for hours. Welcome to the Herx storm. No introductions needed-I know you well.

Somewhere in the nonstop twitching, I managed to fall asleep I think from pure physical exhaustion. Morning did not treat me well. My muscles are sore and lead like from the constant motion, I have no strength to walk today. My left arm won't stop moving. My right hand can't grasp. Creating this post has taken 5 hours.

After the Herx storm-it's detox day. Tons of water with lemon, ginger tea, Vitamin C doses, rest. It is all I can do today.

That and my 3 times daily cocktail regimen. Life goes on. Storms present themselves and then blow out sea. Some linger and stay a while.

I will be here a while I think.

Life with a Twist of Lyme

2011-08-23T20:11:00.001-04:00

I've been reluctant to share some recent details of my Lyme disease but tonight I'm so pissed off and I need a spot to write.

Three years ago I was diagnosed with Erlichiosis and Babesiosis which are tick borne illnesses. Despite the routine dosing of Doxycyline and a week of IV meds which had to be stopped because of an allergic reaction: I've had virtually no treatment.

I've had chronic joint and muscle pain for 3 years, mental fogginess, skin rashes, unexplained fevers and a host of other weird and fleeting symptoms. I have seen 9 doctors, have tried 29 different medications, have had countless bloodwork, MRI's, Lumbar punctures and neuropsych testing. I've had every diagnosis under the sun. MS, "post lyme syndrome", Chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia to name a few.

Instead of my doctors believing I knew my body and what doesn't work well, they all insisted it was something else. I was told I was malingering. Who uses that word by the way? I was told I was fixated on Lyme by a Neurologist that I worked with for 20 years in Rhode Island-oh let's call him Dr. G.

I was told I had anxiety and depression. Bite me doctors. Just just bite me. I'd like to use another 4 letter word but children read this blog. You should all be ashamed of yourselves and have your licenses revoked. First do no harm? I guess that only pertains to the diseases you actually believe in. And even with positive lab results to prove my illness-they didn't believe. Bite me.

Just before our family vacation in June, I could barely walk. I was having trouble breathing, I had chest pain and a rash around my eye. My right knee swelled up like...well... a tick. I saw my Rheumatologist who ran another lyme test. I left my cell phone number with the MD to call with any test results but decide to go on the vacation anyway.

All through vacation I felt horrible and came home to 4 phone calls from my Primary and Rheumatologist (did you forget my cell number?). I was now positive for Lyme disease as well and they were restarting the Doxycycline. I had had enough. 3 tick borne illnesses. 3.

I've missed out on my kids soccer games, family time, and events. I can't do grocery shopping and I walk with a cane because of pain and muscle weakness. My vision is blurred sometimes and my limbs go numb making driving difficult. This past Sunday we went to the county fair. It required a lot of walking and in anticipation of this-I borrowed the wheelchair from church. A wheelchair. I'm 42 years old.

In the past month, I had a repeat MRI, and all of my lyme testing repeated as well as some immune function studies. This past month I have spent my days checking off symptom lists and 2 pages of medication lists. I've taken 3 different antibiotics to fight off this parasite and a total of 26 pills a day. The antibiotics caused chest pain, palpitations, severe joint and muscle pain, skin rashes, shortness of breath, difficulty swallowing and a host of other things. Rather I should say the lyme and co-infections dying off caused this. Does it matter?

Today I saw my Lyme specialist who gave me my test results. My MRI is now showing lesions on my brain that weren't there a year ago. I have brain lesions. Lyme parasitic things in my brain. It's in my central nervous system.

My CD57 count is low. This is an indicator that my immune system is shot and willl indicate my chances of relapse. I was told I will relapse and how much of an improvement we'll get on the meds we just don't know. She told me to anticipate years of treatment. She also told me that I have acquired another co-infection that will require an additional anti-viral medication. My B12 level is dangerously low so we doubled the dose and she mentioned that with some of the symptoms I am having that I was more than likely positive for Bartonella (another tick borne illness that the lab forget to check )as well. All from one stinking tick bite.

So where I stand now is this. The plan is to take another month of oral antibiotics in hopes of killing off more lyme (and the other buggers) to help minimize my herx reaction while on IV antibiotics, begin the antiviral medication and increase my B12. In another month I start my IV antibiotics after I have my PICC line placed. In 6 months we repeat the MRI of my brain to check on the lesions. I'm exhausted. I want my damn life back. The life where I could run with my kids, form a coherent sentence, not be on government disability and oh I don't know-pain free maybe. All because no one believed me.

The lyme specialist I see is a Nurse Practitioner who opened her own lyme practice after going undiagnosed with lyme for years. My insurance doesn't cover her and the expense has been over $1000 just in this month. I don't know how we're going to continue to pay for this.

In Rhode Island there are no Lyme Literate doctors available anywhere. Most have a year waiting list or more. I now have 12 friends diagnosed with Lyme all who have had inadequate treatment because doctors refuse to believe us and refuse to believe the dynamics of this disease. Bite us doctors, just bite us.

I write all of this hoping those affected by lyme or who may think they have lyme, continue to pursue treatment. I haven't lost hope-perhaps a bit discouraged and yes, I'm so angry right now. My advice:

Listen to your body and your heart.
If you've had Lyme or any other co-infection, get treated and you still have symptoms-guess what? You need more treatment.
Don't let a doctor convince you that you have Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue syndrome or a psychiatric disorder after lyme.
Pursue treatment until someone listens.
Read everything, gain knowledge on the testing, the results and how they relate to your symptoms.
Screw the CDC and their atrocious Lyme guideline treatment protocol.
Keep a symptoms list every single day.
Get a support system in place. Your gonna need it. Emotionally, physically and psychologically.

None of this is meant as medical advice. I hope it reaches one person, one doctor or health care professional. I hope they soon listen to the many of us affected by this disease. And if not....they can bite me.

Bev

The County Fair

2011-08-21T17:00:00.000-04:00

Every year we attend our local county fair. It's something the whole family looks forward to and we always learn something new. Homeschooling happens everywhere.

Larry bought a bunch of tickets for the kids to go on rides.

Why are tickets so expensive?

See? You can tell from his face how thrilled he is.

Patrick went on the Round Up. While he was on the ride getting his brains spun, we ran into some friends from church.

The prizes are always so tempting to the kids.

A sure sign that the kids are growing up is that they want to ride the adult rides. The dinosaur spinning thing just isn't doing it for my kids anymore.

So, Larry rode the roller coaster with them.

Because nothing thrills kids more than getting whipped around at 40 miles an hour and watching your cart plunge to the ground only to be lifted again.

It's hard to catch clear pictures of the carts racing by.

And it's a county fair so what more would you expect

than a kiddie pool filled with corn kernels?

These grist mill stones would look great in my yard.

Anybody have any they want to donate to me?

Morgan thought the baby cradle sled was awesome.

All I could think of was the episode of Little House on the Prairie where baby Grace is bundled up and Pa is pulling her in one of these contraptions.

I think he was hunting for turkeys or something.

Did I mention that I love Little House on the Prairie?

The old iceboxes were so fund to look at although I can't imagine hauling the ice would be that fun. I'm kinda fond of the icemaker in my refrigerator.

And the Spinner's Club sat and spun fibers from some of the sheep at the fair.

Daniel Boone made an appearance too.

Morgan was quite annoyed that I asked her to pose in a dress.

Yes, her face is sideways.

The food court is always popular. Corn Dogs, Kielbasa, chowder,

clamcakes, doughboys, oh my!

The onion blossom was really good.

The animal barns are my favorite.

These goats were so cute.

People name their animals funny names.

Shrek and Fiona were the names of two goats.

These were Jakob sheeps that originated from Syria.

They had 4 horns instead of 2.

The ginormous pig is there every year with her babies.

This year she had 10 babies.

Apparently nursing in public didn't bother her....or anyone else.

This little beauty is named Piper.

We bought raffle tickets to win her.

How we'd get her home if we really did win, I have no idea.

Strawberry Shortcake ended our day.

Sadly this year-I'm pretty sure they were canned strawberries.

Morgan preferred the Cotton Candy.

Some man at a religious booth gave her a dog ballon sculpture and tried to tell her a rainbow biblical story. Morgan let him know it was also the color of our UU rainbow principles.

We bought some local honey.

Tae was facinated with the bees under glass. The bees had started to make honey combs and did a frantic dance around the queen.

We bought two different kinds of honey. The lighter one was wildflower honey and the darker one came from dark wildflowers. The darker one has some molasses undertones and finishes with the sweet honey flavor.

Can't wait until next year!

4H Happenings

2011-07-21T08:53:00.000-04:00

Our 4H group has been meeting through the summer. This past meeting the kids learned how to make wet felting, dyeing wool and felted soap.

We dyed the wool with Kool-aid so the whole lawn area smelled delicious. The kids wanted to bring the extra packets home and drink them but we actually don't allow Kool Aid as a drink in the house. The coloring and sugar content react adversly with the kids.

The kids were each given a foil pan and chose their Kool Aid color.

While some worked on wool dyeing, others worked on making drop spindles.

Tae had a little dye spilled on his hair.

He was kinda thrilled he'd have blue hair.

On a previous field trip to Swiss Valley Foundation, the kids were able to see sheep being sheared. They got to see how dirty the wool was and then at the 4H meeting see how the wool had been washed and cleaned.

They dye colors were very bright.

Tae chose orange for his wet felting project.

Morgan had a bright purple.

If there was black she would have chosen that instead.

Some just smiled so cutely.

Once the dye was poured the kids placed the wool in the pan

and poked it to get it all colored and soaked.

The grass was the perfect spot to do this activity.

The kids also learned how to make drop spindles with the wool.

We dried the dyed wool in the grass. How pretty.

Except for that bottom one-it kind of looks like lunch gone wrong.

Karen showed how to wrap and wet the felt around the soap to create a scrubby. After dyeing all that wool it helped to get the kids hands really clean.

It took quite a while to get the wool felted.

The kids had great fun getting all soapy.

Karen's hands turned bright pink from the dye.

Once the wool was wrapped around the soap it was placed in nylon. The kids dipped it in water and scrubbed away to felt the wool and join the fibers.

Tae really was having fun here.

His face doesn't show it but he loved this project.

Our next 4H meeting will be a trip to an Alpaca farm.

The kids (and me too!) can't wait.

Family Vacation

2011-07-17T15:02:00.000-04:00

Back in June we were finally able to take a family vacation to New Hampshire.

We made the obligatory visit to Storyland.

Deformity

2011-07-12T14:19:00.000-04:00

Remember the Mandrake roots in Harry Potter?

A real Mandrake Root looks like this.

My garden carrots look suspiciously similar.

Although they don't scream when I pull them out of the ground.

A Wonderful House Blessing!

2011-07-10T17:07:00.000-04:00

We had a wonderful House Blessing yesterday.

Many of our church family came and brought food and gifts.

We had a water bowl for putting in stones of blessings.

A larger candle to start the blessing and then each family

did a reading and lit a smaller candle.

These were the words we shared:

A House Blessing

We dedicate and bless this home with the prayers and love of all who have gathered here today. May the candles we light help to carry our prayers and illuminate our spirits.

We light a candle to understanding.

We dedicate this home to deep knowledge.
May its joys and sorrows be shared and the individuality of each person

who lives and visits here appreciated.

We light a candle to love.
We dedicate this home to work, and rest and play.

May our home have joy and high fellowship,

with kindness in its voices and laughter running within its walls.

May the children know strength and courage and joy in all that they do.

We light a candle to joy.
We dedicate this home to friendly life.

May its doors open in hospitality

and its windows look out with kindness toward other homes.

We light a candle to friendship.

May its duties be performed in love,

its furnishings bear witness that the work of others

minister to our comfort,

and its table remind us that God works with us

for the supply of daily needs.

We light a candle to cooperation.

We dedicate this home to the appreciation

of all things good and true.

May the books bring wisdom,

the pictures symbolize things beautiful,

and the music bring joy and inspiration.

We light a candle to appreciation.

We dedicate the time and talent of those who live here

to help build a world in which every family

may have a home of comfort and fellowship.

We light a candle to service.
We dedicate this home as a unit in the Church universal,

an instrument of peacemaking,

a place of worship and love and laughter,

and a threshold to life eternal.

We light a candle to spiritual enrichment.
As the flames point upward, so our thoughts rise in gratitude

for this home, the people in it,

and in prayer, we ask for blessings upon it.

My Beehive beverage container looked great with lemonade.

The table was all set with wine.

A fabulous Sangria came out later.

The little ones wandered the yard and played with the chickens.

Everyone gathered under the canopy for the blessing.

Reverend Tricia led us to the chicken coop. Yes, even our chicken coop was blessed. We'll see if it results in a better egg production from the girls.

The chickens weren't thrilled to be participating however

and took a bit of effort to catch.

Tae finally caught chipmunk (the chicken) who seemed quite amused at the whole situation.

We made our way around the house and blessed the threshhold as well.

After the blessing we dined on some wonderful cookout food and everyone swam in the pool.

Later in the evening, our friend Laurie and her husband Bob, took our family and some other friends out for a sunset cruise in the boat on the pond, which is more like a lake it's so huge.

It was the perfect end to a perfect day.

I gues I should feel lucky that the teen wanted to sit with me.

The water and sky was so blue. It was so relaxing and the weather was perfect.

MaryAnn, Zorro and Laurie check out the water out the back of the boat. I'm sure there is a nautical term for "the back of the boat". Let me know what that is.

Tae made sure that Captain Bob drove correctly.

Captain Bob did a fine job.

It was his Birthday too, Happy Birthday Bob!

Jet skis and boats were everywhere.

I couldn't ask for a more perfect day.

To be blessed by my church family in prayer, gifts and friendships.

I am ever uplifted by them.

Life is pretty darn awesome.

Bev

House Blessing Preparations

2011-07-08T19:04:00.000-04:00

I have been cooking all day. Here's the menu for tomorrow's house blessing/cookout.

Layered Pesto Torta with homemade pita chips

Cheese platter/Kalamata olives

Garlic Goat cheese and crackers

Gazpacho Shooters

Grilled/Marinated Chicken and vegetable skewers

Baked beans

Green Salad

Orzo Salad

Broccoli Salad with Bacon and Balsamic dressing (I could eat this forever)

Sangria, lemonade, wine, iced tea, water, coffee

Popsicles

Ice cream cake

Lime Cream Torte

Pictures, our candle lighting reading and recipes will be posted over the weekend.

~Bev

A House Blessing

2011-07-07T20:31:00.000-04:00

We had a church service auction and our minister auctioned off a House Blessing.

This weekend our family will be blessed.

We have about 25-30 people coming-all church friends.

After the House Blessing we will have a cookout and some swimming in the pool.

I've pulled together my linens for the table and some shish-ka-bob skewers.

My friend Tracy gave me these canisters.

I removed the lids and will use them as plastic ware servers.

I also bought lots of candles for the House Blessing Reading, some blue gems to put in water for those that want to speak of blessing in their lives and have purchased a small gift for our minister. She has been an Interim but has blessed us this passed year with her wonderful ministry. The house blessing is this Saturday. I'll be sure to post pictures of the event.

We are so fortunate to have a wonderful UU church community.

The Beehive

2011-07-06T14:50:00.000-04:00

I just bought this new iced tea dispenser today.

It's very old fashioned looking and I'm very happy.

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-05T20:54:00.001-04:00

We spent the Fourth of July with some church friends. We shared a meal and dessert first. They live on the water and we were able to go out in their boat and watch the fire works right over the water. What a lovely evening. I never realized how loud fireworks are until you are right under them.
I did manage to forget my camera but had my cellphone. The pictures aren't great and don't really capture the beauty of the explosions.

We left the dock around 8:30 and the sun was just beginning to set. Gorgeous sky and weather.

Wispy Clouds and tangerine sky as the sun set beyond us.

The husband and daughter sat up front. There was much glare from the sunset.

Such beauty.

And the colors were amazing.

Chrysanthemums.

We were very close the barge that lit the fireworks. Did I mention they were loud?

Just Gorgeous. I really wish this one came out clearer.

And this one too. It was like a fountain spray.

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend.

Changes

2011-07-04T13:06:00.000-04:00

I am going to be overhauling the blog in content and design. Please excuse while we are under construction.

Lots On My Mind

2011-07-03T20:23:00.006-04:00

We spent a week in New Hampshire on a lovely family vacation. I knew before I left that something was wrong health wise again. I'd been feeling awful and had increased generalized pain.

My knee swelled up. Sexy isn't it.

I came home to 4 phone calls on my answering machine. Two from my primary MD and two from my Rheumatologist. My Lyme test was positive again. I immediately burst into tears. I knew it was but you get to a point with chronic lyme that you dismiss symptoms and don't believe what your body is telling you. Please God let it be anything but that.

In August of 2008 I was bit by a tick. In knew I was bit but didn't know how sick it would have made me. Within 3 days I was gravely ill and told I had Erlichiosis but that a 21 day course of Doxycycline would have me fixed up in no time. Well I improved some but by December I was deteriorating further. I had trouble walking and concentrating and couldn't type. I had word finding difficulty and a worsening headache that wouldn't go away and if I worked a night shift as an RN in the ICU, it would take me 3 days to recover. But the headache. Dear God the headache. Symptoms still vary day to day. My arms go numb making driving difficult. My muscles twitch and groan at the slighest exertion. My left eye droops. Sometimes it takes what seems forever to get through one paragraph in a book.

More bloodwork revealed that I also had Babesiosis and I would need IV antibiotics. But I had an anaphylactic reaction to the antibiotics after 5 days and then spent 10 days in the hospital being pumped full of steroids, IV fluids, narcotics. I had MRI's, lumbar punctures and had my gallbladder out.

Since that time it's been an ongoing battle. I've educated myself and despite my doctors believing I have Fibromyalgia, insisted on the Lyme test again. I see a Lyme specialist in a few weeks. Not sure if I am happy about that or just terrified. I have had 5 positive Lyme tests and 3 different tick borne illnesses. There is pain every single day and I walk with a cane. I have word finding difficulty. I'm on permanent disability and have a handicap parking permit. When my disability was approved the relief was great financially but I sat there and stared at the approval and thought, "Congratulations, you're disabled."

People look at me and see how much I do accomplish on a daily basis. I volunteer at my church, in my homeschool group and do a ridiculous amount of things for my family. Yet every single day putting my feet on the floor in the morning is an accomplishment. Shaving my legs is an act of God.

I push myself every single day to accomplish the most basic tasks. I have to. I worry how much damage this freaking vector has done to my body. I wonder if my strength will ever come back or if I will have a day without pain or without some weird symptom wreaking havoc with me.

Yet the CDC insists all my symptoms are in my head. They have set medical protocols that are damaging patients. There is an old Audubon saying, "When the bird and the book disagree, believe the bird." Or maybe it's the "if it quacks like a duck" saying that needs to be recognized.

I take care of myself the best I can. I rest, eat right take the homepathic treatments as well as the antibiotics. Yet somedays even this is futile. I move on because I have to. Because if I give in to this disease, it will swallow me whole. Because each time I give in or let others make a decision for me, I lose a little piece of who I am.

Imagine trying to do just your daily chores. Things like showering, washing dishes, reading the paper, folding laundry, stirring a pot of sauce. No big deal, right? Now try it wearing 50 pounds and with your dominant arm tied behind your back. Not so easy. Oh you may get it done but how tired are you? How much pain are you in? Do you feel good about the job you did? Who had to help you? How did you get that pot of sauce off the stove with one arm? How does the laundry look after folding? Oh but wait, you must also care for 3 kids, pets, clean your home, grocery shop, go to the bank, tend the garden, prepare dinner and follow a recipe. See where I'm going with this?

There is a spoon theory that I like to tell people about. While the woman who wrote it has Lupus and not Lyme disease-it's a great analogy.

I am hoping the Lyme specialist can help. I'm desperately out of spoons.

Up and Running

2011-06-28T19:45:00.005-04:00

Thanks to a very nice reader, I was able to delete some old albums. If your looking for blog posts prior to 2010........they may be missing pictures. Sorry for the inconvenience but in order to keep blogging and not pay for more photo storage-it was a must do.

Starting this week I will have some new posts. In the meantime, here's what we've been up to:
-we took a week's vacation in New Hampshire.
-we added 8 new baby chickens to our flock of 8.
-we planted a huge garden and I have lettuce and all kinds of greens coming out my ears.
-our homeschool group has been growing like gangbusters and keeping me very busy.
-my daughter won the division soccer tournament, got braces and grew 2 inches.
-I ordered a whole new curriculum for the two youngest kids.
-this year I will have a 10th grader-yikes.
-my Lyme test came back positive resulting in more health complications. ARRGGGHH.
-I've tried tons of new recipes.
-We have a house blessing coming up in July.
-we will be spending the 4th of July on a boat with friends watching fireworks over the lake.
-I discovered I love my DROID.
-we bought 10 yards of mulch that still isn't moved.
-we've taken several homeschool field trips.

Stay tuned for some posts and some blog changes.

Blogging

2011-06-05T19:39:00.001-04:00

Maybe I'll start a food blog.

What should I call it?

Time for a Change

2011-06-02T08:26:00.003-04:00

I've apparently reached my limit for Blogger with the number of photos I can upload. Blogger uses Picassa for photo storage and I'm maxed out. So it's either pay for an upgrade or move the blog to another host. And no-Picassa doesn't allow you to delete the photos.
I am not a happy camper.

New Curriculum Shopping

2011-05-30T19:50:00.004-04:00

In the past year we have used Oak Meadow for the kids homeschool curriculum. It worked on many levels and on some levels it did not. I found the First Grade level completely bored Tae. Morgan liked the 6th grade math but that was about it. I don't think it challenged either one of them.

So this year, we bit the bullet and ordered a very expensive curriculum. I know, expensive doesn't always mean better but they have a refund policy if we don't like it. But I want the kids to be challenged. Tae is already half way through his second grade year and Morgan needs much more help with her writing. She has such difficulty organizing thoughts and writing them down.

Patrick did very well with Oak Meadow 9th grade. Except the Math-we found Saxon Math just awful so for him this year we are switching to Teaching Textbooks Geometry.

Morgan and Tae will try Calvert. The way I look at it is this: we spend money on groceries, vacation, electronics so why not our kids education? We'll see how it goes. I have to admit that I had a bit of chest pain when I ordered.

Stay tuned for a review when the box comes in.

Lessons Learned

2011-05-17T07:36:00.004-04:00

I am sitting at my desk this morning, reading through emails as my kids begin their day. It's my usual routine:coffee, slog the mess on the desk to the side, move through emails and decide which ones get priority before we start the days lessons.

It's been raining for a few days, my newly planted herbs and lettuces are happy. My joints and muscles....not so much. But the rain makes me reflective. It washes things anew and brings with it great possibilities.

The kids have finished up all their homeschool lessons which means an extended, welcome break over the summer. Some things we did well this year yet other goals were elusive (as they are every year) and need rethinking.

Finishing the school year brings me to the lessons learned, not just in homeschooling but in life and the people in it.

1) Whether it's homeschooling or in life, the process or task just doesn't matter in the end. How I treat those completing the task is much more important. Rules, policies, bylaws and guidelines are useless if you don't pay attention to the heart and the people involved.

2) I am not responsible for other people's feelings. Each of us needs to take ownership of our own reactions and motives behind those feelings. What I am responsible for is recognizing hurt and disappointment and making amends when I need to. I expect the same from others.

3) I trust my kids in all their mistakes and accomplishes. My kids talk to me...a lot...about everything. My husband and I have taught them well. They come to us when something is questionable and ask for help. They ask questions about sex, faith, friendship, struggles and joys. That doesn't mean that they don't screw up. And it doesn't mean if they do screw up that I trust them less. It means we talk about it as a family, learn from it and get on with it. But it also means that as parents, we have to let them grow and go and let them make their own mistakes. It also means as parents that we will make mistakes too. God knows, I've made my fair share.

4) Volunteering is important. For me, volunteering is Holy Work. Interpret that however you want. Every single one of us in our family volunteers in some way. Church, homeschool group, community or playground-it is the essense of our family.

5) I CHERISH my homeschool group and Board. These amazing families have supported, loved me, shared ideas, built community, have given me new ways of thinking and yes have even called me on my faults. They do so with kind and loving hearts in ways that can only support me as a person and help me to grow and recognize. That is a gift.

6) I am a superwoman.....to the best of my abilities. Being a mom requires wearing a superhero cape everyday anyway. For most moms (and dads) the cloak is invisible and we see parenting, volunteering, working, homeschooling, serving and giving as just another piece of life's big picture.

7) My marriage comes first in life even before my kids. Shocker to some I know and here's why. This past year, I've learned that working as a team is important. If I don't nourish our marriage, things fall apart quickly. I can't be a wife to my husband and I can't be a mom to our kids if all the pieces of the puzzle don't fit together. Date nights are important. No kids. Just two adults and time to reconnect. My kids are also my life but I can't be my best self if life isn't rounded out with adult needs as well as kids needs. That's not being selfish-that's called self care. My kids know this and understand this and no they don't feel slighted at all. In fact, they notice the difference when I am stressed and haven't been taking care of myself.

My words of advice are this.

Do the best you can and when you can't, move on. Homeschooling isn't always easy but it is interwoven with life and all it's lessons.

Relationships matter. Take time to nurture them. They morph and change and grow and sometimes they don't.

Listen more. Don't just hear what the person is saying but deeply listen. Try to understand hurts, make the effort to fix them if possible.

Not all relationships are worth fixing. Know in your heart when you have done your best.

The meaning of life. Yes, I figured that out too. Just connect with people and learn about them. That is holy work too. We were put here to make connections and figure out humanity in all it's complexities. I'll let you know when I figure out what that means.

So honey, when is date night?

Signs of Spring

2011-05-02T09:18:00.007-04:00

We've been outside enjoying the sunshine this week. Our homeschool year is winding down. The kids are a few weeks ahead in some lessons and it gives us ample opportunity to be outside.

While I love spring, I don't love the weeds. There are dandelions everywhere this year.

The Violets grow in abundance here and by next week I will be picking them to make Violet jelly. I made a big batch last year and it makes a great glaze for hams or chickens. It's also very yummy on top of cream cheese and a bagel.
If you search on the this blog you will find the recipe for Violet Jelly.

The Lemon Balm is already coming up in huge amounts. It makes delicious tea, lemon extract and fills out flower bouquets with such a lovely smell.

The brocolli has grown quite a bit.

The onions have been planted.

My buddha has a bit of a head injury after the long winter.

He happily sits next to my sage plant.

Tae found some time to play on the Zip Strip.

When did he get so tall?

Or cute?

The Maple trees are starting to blossom with the Chartreuse green, tender buds.

I'm happy to use my clothes line as well.

The chickens are finding tons of bugs and ticks to eat.

But....this is a problem.

They love this garden for dirt baths.

I don't know how we are going to put mulch in it this year.

They really do make a mess of my side walk and seedlings.

The view from my upper deck shows the chickens having a wonderful time.

While it looks like a chicken massacre...believe me...it's not.

These girls roll around, upside down and sideways to make sure every inch of their feathers is covered in dirt. They always look awful afterward.

Moonlight the cat just strolls by them totally oblivious to their glory.

She learned long ago to leave the chickens alone.

A few too many pecks and she went running.

See? Dirty chickens.
Destroyed garden.

Divots and caverns where they lay. My seedlings gone.

I believe next weekend we will be building a small fence.

Sigh.

What's blooming where you live?

Spring Cleaning

2011-05-01T19:09:00.006-04:00

Each Spring we have to clean out our Koi pond. It's a horrible job but one that is necessary. As you walk by and the pond smells "swampy"-it's usually a pretty good sign that it's time.

Larry starts by skimming the top of debris and leaves and the pampas grass clippings.

But eventually he has to scoop down to the bottom and get all the muck out.

Tae helped cut all the grasses down and then raked out the beds.

Eventually, Larry has to get into the pond.

The Koi are not amused and like to brush by his legs.

Every once in a while you hear a little yell because he thinks it's a Garden Snake.

Today he worked on rebuilding the waterfall.

The winter snow had displaced a lot of rocks and the Racoons like to come and move the rocks looking for bugs and scrumptious things to eat.

The water lillies were completely overgrown. We cut the overgrown roots off the bottom and repotted them. I hate this job. The lillies are full of muck and stink. Then we stink.

The kids moved my glider swing out under the Willow Tree.

The big pampas grasses were cut back. They really need to be divided but we can do that anytime during the summer. They are so hardy they don't mind being hacked apart.

Buddha is quite happy to have some sun.

He entertained the chickens today.

We redid the boulders at the opposite end of the pond and create another small waterfall.

The water will be murky for about another week but will clear up soon. We started feeding the fish today but only in small amounts. The water is still quite cold and their metabolism is still slow so we do a bit at a time.

My yard is just blossoming with spring time.

Isn't it pretty?

The chickens have been very happy freeranging throughout the yard.

They are fertilizing and eating tons of bugs and ticks.

We got our cold weather crops in. Brocoli, spinach, lettuce, peas, beans and onions. We'll be planting the rest of the garden soon.

Happy May Day!

Writer's Block

2011-04-09T08:04:00.002-04:00

I can't decide what to write about. I have enough material, plenty in fact but can't decide. It happens. I think in times of busy-ness it's sometimes harder to reflect on the lesson rather than the task. So stay tuned. Another post coming soon on Lyme Disease-vegetable gardens-homeschooling-chickens-religion-struggles-mykids-crazy schedules-multitasking-pets-vacations-family-disappointment-being meloncholy-volunteerism-daughter's braces-OWL classes-organization-canning-purging-reflecting and rebounding.

Or something like that.

Learning About Geckos

2011-02-02T08:30:00.004-05:00

Patrick's Gecko has kinda grown on me.

But we had her just a whole week and she turned

this very pale color and was listless.

Little did we know she was ready to shed her skin.

Her skin started to split around her face first.

Some of the pictures are red as she doesn't like the bright light and was seeking out a place to hide to shed her skin. She ended up in her little rock house.

She must have been very itchy and worked

for over an hour to get the skin off.

She would rub against the rocks and
in the sand to help shed the skin.

The weirdest part was when she ate the skin!

This is a great photo of her shedded skin and

the beautiful new color underneath.

Hard to see but the skin, once loosened, came off in big chunks.

Poor Nyla had to rest a lot.

She was exhausted.

But look at the colors appearing on her tail!

Then she was quickly back to work beautifying herself.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

And of course the small piece of shedded skin that was

left over made a great item to be looked

at under the microscope.

You never know when a homeschool lesson will present itself!

Oh and guess what?

We've had more snow.

More Snow

2011-01-28T13:04:00.010-05:00

We had another snow storm the other night.

It added another 14 inches of snow on top of the 24 inches we already had.

My Christmas wreath sure does look pretty though.

I should probably take that down at some point.

The kids and the neighbors decided to do some snowfort making on

the huge mound of snow in front of our house.

They dug a whole in the top.

I went out and took some pictures while they completed their project.

My patio table looks like a big cupcake.

The kids were still working and shoooed me away.

They dug a tunnel through the snow.

After a few hours of work they broke through.

I could tell by all the whooping and yelling.

They rock.

Our gutters are very heavy with ice and snow.

I hope they don't pull off.

See how much snow we have?

This is the path to the chicken coop.

And our picnic table can't be seen from the deck on the back of the house.

Even the tire swing was grounded in snow.

The chickens did not want to go out and play.

On a brighter note, most of them have regrown their feathers after moulting.

Perhaps now you can lay me some eggs girls?

Chippy says no.

Looking from the coop back to the house.

The shed is not yet dug out.

My four foot garden fence is about 2 feet tall now.

And that's our pool. It's also 4 feet deep.

Or it used to be before we got 3 feet of snow.

The kids played outside all day.

This sidewalk used to be shoveled.

Morgan used to have a lower body.

Getting out of the tunnel took a bit of effort.

Push Morgan! Push!

Who else is in there?

I think he needs some help.

It's Pooh Bear-stuck in the hole!

No, it's just Tae!

He was laughing so hard the other kids had to pull him out.

We may have lost a few in there somewhere.

It took a lot of searching.

Till finally they thought it was a lost cause.

And the thoughts of hot chocolate filled their heads instead.

And half a body came out the top of the hole and half a body came out of the bottom of the hole. Things were quite a mess.

Or so it seemed.

How much snow are you buried in?

The New Addition to the Family

2011-01-23T18:03:00.004-05:00

The teen has been saving his babysitting money and guess what he got?

A Gecko.

A Gecko that eats live crickets and mealworms.

This is Nyla. She's a girl.

I know this because the teen made me look.

Did I mention she eats live crickets?

She likes to ride on shoulders. Or backs.

She's a bright yellow here.
We've had her a week and she's moulting and turned a very dull color.
And now my counter has a cricket keeper and
there are meal worms in my spare refrigerator.

Did I mention she eats live food?

She's grown on me.

The crickets and mealworms......not so much.

The Important Things

2011-01-18T06:41:00.004-05:00

Like many, it has been hard to get the Arizona shootings off my mind. I have been watching those recovering in hospitals and those that have been laid to rest. Several of my friends are also "stuck" on the story of the shootings. It's hard to move on when you feel helpless and don't understand circumstances or the full story. I feel much like I did after September 11th.

Disbelief, uncertainty...being unsettled.

Several years ago, I did a sermon at church on Organ Donation. I told of a younger woman that had died, of her family and how her organs were donated. Work in the ICU was not always easy. With those that healed from injuries, there were also those that passed on. Working with the patients and families who were donating organs was some of my most fulfilling work.

It was hard and sad and joyful.

Making decisions such as donating organs when your own grief is overwhelming you, cannot be easy. I wonder if I would have the strength to get through my grief in such circumstances and to see the gift that Organ Donation is.

Today, I am keeping Christina Taylor Green in my thoughts.

I will hold her family and their grieving for their daughter in my prayers.

Christina's family made the decision to donate her organs after

she died in the Arizona shootings.

The article was posted on the Washington Post.

I will hold the families that received her organs close to my heart knowing that they have been given more time with their loved ones through the grace of a 9 year old girl and her family.

May her family know what a tremendous gift they have in their daughter.

Girl on Saturday

2011-01-16T07:53:00.006-05:00

Thought I would put a shout out for my friend Karen and her new blog:

Girl on Saturday

http://girlonsaturday.blogspot.com/

Karen has many children and I love her writing about real life parenting.

Stop on over and give her a shout out.

Stupid Dog

2011-01-14T19:36:00.007-05:00

This dog that I love with all my heart

is going to be the death of me.

Stupid Dog.

This is what Homeschooling a teen looks like.

Short dog must find the smallest place to cram

his NOT svelte figure into.

Stupid Dog.

Today I came home to find short dog limping and screaming in pain.

Stupid Dog.

He jumped off the couch to greet us and got hurt.

Now one might say "How in the world did he do that?"

When you are half English Bulldog and half Dachshund

and your legs are 3 inches long...

it's pretty darn easy to injure yourself.

Poor Harley could not put any weight on his leg.

Stupid Dog.

See that left crooked leg? It's more like a flipper.

Think NEMO.

Think of me, walking with my cane and my teen trying to get the dog in the

car to go emergently into the Vet's office in a panic.

Stupid Dog.

Think about me leaving my 11 year old home in charge of the

6 year old while

I blasted out the door in fear that

short dog's leg was busted.

Stupid dog.

Think about how the dog was perfectly fine by

the time we got to the Vet's office.

And they gave him cookies too.

Stupid Dog.

Think about this perfectly ridiculous dog.....that greets me with kisses and tail nub wags and eats my shoes and must have his head buried behind me when laying on the couch. Think of this dog that get frostbite on his belly 'cause it drags on the ground in snow storms.

Stupid Dog.

I'm very glad you are okay.

January Snow

2011-01-12T20:10:00.009-05:00

More snow pictures from the snow storm.

The chickens were snuggled all...

no, wait, that's another story.

The chicken rotisserie....I mean heat lamp.

Splattered chicken on the wall.

The chicken coop buried under snow.

Actually the heavy snow made it quite warm in the coop.

This is my compost pile.

Snow laden pine tree.

Larry plowing the driveway.

It only took about 4 hours.

24 inches of snow at the last count.

Does it much matter after 12 inches?

The front of the house.

Halfway thru the driveway.

Pine boughs.

Stewie in the plowed path to the chicken coop and barn.

Stewie loves the snow.

Birdhouse on the garden fence.

Buried barn.

Larry calls it the shed.

The buried chicken coop.

The old treefort and tire swing.

Frosty windows.

The bluebird house.

Buried Adirondack chair.

The Willow Tree.

Snow on the Jacuzzi roof.

From the deck looking toward the pool.

Look how much snow.

The view from the deck looking out toward the backyard.

Flower boxes filled with snow.

The tool shed and vegetable garden.

Drifts on the roof.

The berry Christmas wreath that I forgot to put away.

Hope you are staying warm and dry this winter season.

Bev

Pure and White

2011-01-12T10:20:00.006-05:00

We got a little snow in Rhode Island.

16 inches.......or so.......out here in the woods.

That's my patio set with the bumps sticking up.
You can see the barn and chicken coop in the distance to the right.

The view to my front yard taken through our front door...

because I couldn't get the door open...

because we have 16 inches of snow....or so.

The road is behind those trees.

Can't you tell?

That's my driveway.

It's the big white patch.

Here is my Zen water fountain.

At least it will be when the snow melts.....in July.

Or perhaps August.

Stay safe and warm.

I'm sending the husband out with a rope to find my children.

Owls

2010-12-30T10:55:00.005-05:00

Found some very cute Owl notecards for printing over at

http://www.mmmcrafts.blogspot.com/

Print your own here;

Then browse her lovely designs.

Her blog is filled with fantastic patterns and I can take no credit other than to give her a shout out and tell her I love her designs.

The New Craft Room

2010-12-28T20:12:00.012-05:00

In case you didn't hear.......we got some snow.

Our Christmas Tree looked beautiful this year.

But we took it down today.

I'm glad to have my living room back.

We had lots of sparkly ornaments.

And a perfect shelf for the Elf.

Oh, and my dog always sleeps like this.

He's obscene.

Really.

He's Dachshund and English Bulldog.

I know.

He's a Bull Weenie.

I've been wanting a craft room of my own for quite some time but we really didn't have space for it in our part of the house. The empty inlaw apartment has been used for my homeschoolers but since we meet only once or twice a week, I wanted the space to go to better use. I thought about putting my craft room in our family room but decided against it. The TV is there and well......so are my kids. I wanted quiet and some place to craft other than my kitchen table where I didn't have to pick up my project so we can eat dinner.

So in order to make space in the craft room in the apartment, I had my husband haul all of my craft stuff over there including a 6 foot table. The trick is going to be to let the homeschool kids know that my corner is off limits. But they have their own table and own cabinet for crafting so we should be fine. Doesn't this look a mess?

Baskets, quilts and odds and ends all needed to find a place.

I decided to start by just putting like items together on the shelves and then to sort and decorate it. I had so much stuff and things in containers but it was great to get this

finally organized and to have everything right in reach.

The cabinet to the left and this table is for the homeschoolers to craft.

We can pull the table out if we need more room.

There is still plenty of space.

The homeschoolers cabinet was completely organized, decluttered and cleaned.

I have paints on the bottom left shelf, some material toward the top and my cricut cutter on the very top shelf. The right hand shelf started with scrapbooking paper, stamps, cutters, some beads and craft books and glue. The walls are quite bare.

My design style is usually somewhat modern but many years ago I went thru my country phase. There is something about the simplicity of handcrafted items that I just love. I wanted this craft room to be all country and was able to pull out many of my packed away country items.

The wall quilt was given to my daughter when she came home from South Korea.

She said I could borrow it for my new space.

She said it was too girly.

The ribbon storage to the left of the quilt is actually a towel rack

and dowel turned on its side.

It works great to store the riboon.

The white box in the right hand corner is my shelving for more scrapbook paper.

On top of the paper storage is a big jar of beans. I don't craft with these

but they look pretty and I'm all about pretty.

There is also a big jar of antique buttons, some geodes,

a picture of a bird nest that I took and some pinecones from my yard.

Then the decorating began. I didn't like all the paint and plastic containers showing and I found some beautiful lace curtains that made great coverups. My mom's Raggedy Ann doll is on top and my friend John gave me some great bail storage jars that I love. The bottom right hand shelf has my mother-in-laws decoupaged jewelry box. It holds tubes of beads.

I LOVE these jars. I had a dozen of them and they hold everything. We use the clothespins to hang artwork on the clothesline (inside) and the jar on the right has alphabet beads.

I have lots of Noah's Ark things....another one of my collections.

The handkerchief in the basket was my grandmothers. There are some hand dipped beeswax candles and an itty pair of stockings.

The top shelf holds red tubes for crafting, large corks and a doll.

The bail jars hold plastic pony beads and as well

as others that I use for making my malas.

The large table provided much storage underneath. I found some yarn and a great basket. Maybe someday I will learn to knit or crochet.

A country bear sits atop the ribbon.

I love this felted mouse. I have 3 of my grandmothers mice prints and 3 stuffed mice that go with them. They hung in her bedroom for as long as I can remember.

I am so grateful to be surrounded by things that remind me of my family.

The mouse on the left is one of 3.

The mouse in the roses is just cute.

My crafting table is organized with everything I need right in reach.

The Campbell's Soup tin contains scrapbooking glue sticks.

These bail jars sit on the windowsill and have gems and stones.

I'll find a use for them soon.

Right now they are just pretty.

The completed corner.

I love how the curtains cover up the plastic containers

and more unsightly items.

The felt is all rolled and ready for use.

Tae and I will be doing some sewing projects for his 4H group.

This jar has pretty stones.

I love how the alphabet beads are mixed with pearls.

Morgan made this cinnamon applesauce ornament.

It smells great.

I had tons of curtains that I love but some were only one pair and it was hard

to find a place to use them. These beautiful embroidered flowers

were curtains that my mom picked up somewhere.

I hung purple gingham curtains on the windows.

The violet embroidered curtains that I couldn't find a place for made a great table skirt after I sewed the panels together and it hid all the containers under the table. I do need to get a full length table topper. This yellow one is not quite big enough.

Do you have a crafting space?

Studying Australia

2010-12-27T07:31:00.008-05:00

Right before the Holidays, we did some studies on Australia.

Enchanted Learning has some wonderful unit studies.

I've been pulling a lot of homeschool material from their website.

Years ago, my inlaws signed us up for Highlights magazine. It was called Which Way USA Book Club. We have all of the United States packets but have not worked our way through them just yet. The country packets are called Top Secret Adventures. So far we have done Japan and China. The packets come with a book all about the country, puzzles, maps,

passports and a mystery to solve.

Tae has really been loving these.

He especially loves the mapwork and puzzles.

The packet included the smaller map of Australia. Once we had studied the different territories

we moved on to find Australia on the globe.

The bigger map now hangs on our classroom wall.

As we study each country, we put a sticker on the map and stamp his passport.

The passport comes with stickers from each country.

The workbooks contain crossword puzzles, word searches, riddles and all kinds

of fun things to do to help solve the mystery.
You can see a sample here.

Tae is always happy to point out our homestate and then see

how far away our unit study country is.

We studied Australian animals and Tae made this cute Koala mask.

So cute!

We also studied Kangaroos, made a didgeridoo out of wrapping paper rolls

and painted some Aboriginal art masks.
You can find a link for the mask templates and patterns here.

I bought these masks from Oriental Trading.

They were supposed to be African masks but worked just fine for Australia.

Excuse the nose picking. He's six.

Tae chose really bright colors for his mask and

made patterns of dots and stripes.

To paint the dots he used the eraser end of a pencil.

Beautiful!

What unit studies have you done?

Christmas in Pictures

2010-12-25T10:52:00.011-05:00

Have a Very Merry Christmas Everyone!

May this season find you peace, health and happiness.

Bev

A Busy Month of Christmas

2010-12-11T09:51:00.012-05:00

I feel like I've been in a whirl wind of activity these past few weeks. We have had much to be Thankful for in the last month. We started a Gratitude Tree at Church. The leaves are notes of Thanks to everyone in the congregation for their hard work and dedication.

There have since been many more leaves placed on the tree and it is quite full.

When the holiday season is done, the leaves will be distributed to their intended recipients.
A small thanks but heartfelt too.

Tae has been studying Bible Stories as part of his homeschool.
After the holidays, we will move on to World Religions.

These aren't in order of Day of Creations but I love the pictures he draws.

Cute People.

At least we have necks now.

On Day 4 God created the Moon, Stars and Sun....and lollipops sticking out of the Sun.

and flowers growing out of the oceans.....

Happy drawings.

Tae worked on some language arts.

He's reading like a champ and tells the best stories.

Chubby hands at work.

Did I mention he loves language arts?

He read this story and then announced that in the spring we would be making a worm farm. I have no doubt that he won't let me forget this on the first warm day of Spring.

Patrick left his Math unattended to go snack as teenagers do.

Harley took advantage of the warm spot.

He looks less impressed with the Algebra however.

And promptly started to eat the notebook and pencil.

The kids and I worked on some Christmas crafts.

It's amazing what you can find when you clean out your craft cabinet.
We found lots of parafin wax.

We also found some chunks of beeswax and colored tarts.

The kids collected pinecones and we decided to make fire starters for our fireplace.
Yes, I let my kids play with hot items.

If they are taught safety around soap and melting wax, there really is no reason not to let your kids do these things. All of my kids cook meals on the stove too and use the oven.

The firestarter pinecones came out beautiful and made the whole house smell so good.

I made some soap this week too.

This one came out very purply looking but really had no scent.

It was made with Chamomile tea so will be very soothing to the skin.

I also made some Goat's Milk Honey Almond soap, Grapefruit scented and

Sage and Citrus.

Sage and Citrus is my favorite.
I like it in candles too.

On to our Christmas decorating.

Let me present to you our Christmas Stockings.

Larry's mom made these thru the years for all of us.

In her early years the stocking were the right shape.
Larry's stocking is over 40 years old so it's still in pretty good shape.

Patrick's stocking is looking pretty good too.

Mom started to lose her eyesight and had arthritis in her later years.

Morgan's stocking is 3 times larger than anyone elses.....and doesn't really have a heel.

And I am not sure that Tae's stocking has a toe or heel on it.

But we love these stockings and cherish them even more since Mom passed away.

They are a reminder to us of her loving hands, her imperfections and her giving heart.

This garland hangs over my sliders to my deck. It is many of the handmade ornaments that the kids have created thru the years. I love this.

Patrick collects nutcrackers and we have to hang our stockings upstairs because they are too large and hang down in front of the fireplace to hang them there.

My two favorite nutcrackers.

I love that the one on the left is cooking hotdogs....or

maybe it's supposed to be German sausage.

My mom went to ceramics class for many years. These two large candle holder angels sit on my dining room table. Handcrafted with love, they don't match anything else I have and don't care. My mother loved these and so do I.

The kids put the snowman collection in the bathroom.

This is the garland on my banister and the tree by the front door has my Noah's Ark Collection of ornaments. The angel on top of the tree was my mom's. She had it on our family tree for as long as I can remember.

One of my collectible Santas.

More Santas on top of my piano.

The Santa on the bottom is made from brown paper bags.

This kids made this one year.

Patrick worked on a fabulous Santa sculpture.

Love the fur details.

And a holly leaf in his hat.

Bad lighting in this picture but once Patrick completed the Santa he posed it in front of a ceramic church that my mom painted many years ago. The church has stained glass windows and lights up. I cherish it very much.

Santa!

Love the hat!

And the buttons and suspenders.

Santa's suit is very old.

It's about time that he patched his elbows!

Isn't he glorious!

Patrick wasn't quite finished with him and he now sits in a chimney.

Santa goes to church.

My mom's church. It reminds me of the Congregational Church that Larry and I were married in. The bulbs on the trees light up too.

What decorations bring back cherished memories for you?

Thanksgiving

2010-11-27T21:18:00.007-05:00

Thanksgiving at our house is pretty low key. We spent the day with some friends, we said grace and we each said one thing we are grateful for.

Tae is grateful for Turkey legs.

Really.

My turkey looked fabulous.

It tasted even better.

Homemade cranberry apple sauce.

Did I mention the Turkey?

And cornbread.

The chickens quite appreciated this the next day.

A beautiful Thanksgiving Day table.

And the Macy's day parade on in the background.

Lovely chocolate pilgrim hats made by our neighbors.

Apples getting ready for the pie.

I brined the Turkey this year.

It was so moist.

I will do it again next year.

My BFF sent me this beautiful bouquet for the center of my table.

On the homeschool front, we took the week off.

The kids had fun with Dominos and matchbox cars.

And made some salt dough shape thingies.

But then I realized they weren't actually playing Dominos but using them as

crashable walls for the matchbox cars. How ingenious!

Too much fun......until the Policeman got run over

and someone had to go to jail.

Morgan painted some drums.

Is there anything better than tubes of bright paint?

Except maybe a bright yellow huge pillow used as a hat

while the dog eyes you suspiciously?

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T07:26:00.003-05:00

May your Thanksgiving be filled with friends and family

and hearts full of Gratitude.

We Eat the Brains

2010-11-07T19:22:00.011-05:00

Our Homeschool group had a Halloween Party.

We made purple Jello brains.

And then we ate them.

We ate the cake of fire too.

Harry Potter cast a spell on us.

The cauldron was extra bubblicious.

The kids decorated Halloween bags

that were filled with treats.

Yes, we loaded the kids up with candy.

And green glow in the dark stretchy skeletons.

Love these stamps right next to the Harry Potter wand.

And in keeping with the season, this nasty thing made an appearance in my house and then quickly disappeared much to my dismay.

Tae did some map work.

We talked about the oceans this week.

And we learned about the Mayflower and Pilgrims.

Harley showed us the proper way to nap.

Tae did some painting.

We had our church fellowship event.

It was so much fun.

Cooks in the kitchen.

Homemade pizza's that were delicious.

Lots of smiles everywhere.

My sweetness and light.

More sweetness and light.

Hugs and Laughter everywhere.

Serenading and singing.

Feeding the masses.

One talented congregation.

The kids enjoyed icecream sundae's.

Okay so did the adults.

We finished our fellowship weekend with worship on Sunday. The children's choir sang and some of our congregation members displayed this painting of our church. It was done on building blocks as we wait for our Parish house to be built. Each committee member brought up a block showing how it takes everyone for such a large commitment.

It takes a village....

Pumpkin Carving

2010-10-28T07:44:00.010-04:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Homeschool Field Trip

2010-10-24T19:23:00.014-04:00

This past Friday our homeschool group ENRICHri took a field trip to Pezza Farm. It's become an annual event for us and is always well attended.

I love pumpkins.

We had lots of arts and crafts for the kids.

The kids made pinecone bird feeders.

Some of the parents helped tie on the strings.

Zombies were invited too.

And cute little witches.

The kids played lots of games.

Pezza Farm was great to us and we went down to feed the animals. Each of the kids had to learn to use their "farmer hands". Farmer hands = flat palms so fingers don't get bitten.

Larry hung the strings for our game.

I was too vertically challenged to tie the strings.

We had two trays of bird seed to make the pinecone feeders.

The kids collected pinecones before the field trip.

Melissa made this awesome poster to welcome our new families.

She also made 100 gift bags for the kids.

Kayrn got a black eye.

We didn't play bobbing for apples.

Kids spit in water when you bob for apples.

It's gross.

It's my own hangup.

Okay not just mine.

It's gross.

So we bobbed for donuts.

Now there's a sport!

Thirty six kids lined up to bob....or is it bobb?

Hands behind your back.

You must take at least two bites.

If your donut falls on the floor then you are out.

But you can still eat the donut.

5 second rule still applies.

The chocolate donuts were the favorite.

Thankfully no one ate the string.

At least I don't think so.

There was lots of giggling.

And donut eating expertise.

Even the young figured it out.

And some got help from parents.

And some just pulled the donut off and ate it.

That's what I would do.

And Big Brothers helped little sisters.

Then when all the kids were jacked up on sugar donuts, we went for a hayride.

We had over 80 people attend so it took two hayrides to fit us all.

The kids ate popcorn on the hayride and then went out to

the field to feed the cows and horses.

Give me food.

Even the goats begged for food.

I'm sorry but when I saw these Turkeys all I could think about was a side of cranberry sauce and some stuffing. The male is really ugly with his waddly things.

They had cute pigs too.

Okay they really stunk and tried to eat my camera lens.

Yep, definitely a side of cranberry sauce.

Pezza farm had gorgeous fall mums.

I love pumpkins.

Then these freeloaders showed up tried to get on the hayride.

The bunnies looked a bit chilly.

The kids came back from the hayride and pumpkin field with ....eggplants?

They all were able to pick out a sugar pumpkin.

Libby picked one just her size.

The little pumpkins seemed most popular.

Event the teeny tiny ones found a home.

And sweet babies in cute hats played in hay.

Some preferred to make yarn pumpkin crafts.

Big and small played games.

Parents new to our homeschool group got to know one another.

Lunch was a favorite part of the day.

Smiles were everywhere.

The kids had a hard time deciding on which pumpkin to choose.

I think the trick was to balance it on your head.

If it didn't fall off then that was definitely the one to choose.

The foliage was beautiful.

The horse in the field was more interested in eating the pumpkin then the corn cob.

So was the other horse.

It was a great day. I am so thankful for the parents who helped organize, for the new parents that came and thought ENRICHri was a great place to grow their homeschooling family and to the wonderful families that come in love and in support of their kids.

What fall activities are your homeschooling groups doing this season?

Lego Robotics

2010-10-19T18:27:00.011-04:00

Each Wednesday, our homeschool Lego Robotics Team meets from 12-3 pm.

This is how we start the meeting. Shoes off and in the front foyer.

Our youngest is 6 years old and the oldest is 11.
They are learning pi.
Why? Because they need to know how to measure and program wheel rotations so their robot can accomplish the missions on the game table-that's why.

This year's theme is Bio-Engineering.
The team decided to tackle the heart and DNA.
They are required to do a research project and interview someone who is doing research on the heart. I taught the heart anatomy and physiology. Each of the kids became a valve or a chamber of the heart and we roll played and passed the ball (blood) through each step. In the end, the kids new all the chambers of the heart and the sequence of flow.
These kids rock.

Morgan was the Electrical system of the heart. She's wearing the Electricity hat. The kids played a team building game of murder.
Yeah-it's not what it sounds like.
It's more like Clue.

The kids also worked on their public speaking.
They were given scripts to read.
Really hard scripts with words like Deoxyribonucleic acid and prosthetics.

It's great practice for them all.

They will continue to practice this all year.

The coaches continue to work with the kids

and troubleshoot robot problems.

The kids built everything on this table.

While the kids are in their robot class all of our other children play.

Logan is too stinking cute in his Triceratops costume.

The pi girls work on wheels and gears.
That's what they call themselves.

One of the missions is to get the pacemaker wire into the heart.

The pacemaker itself cannot be in the heart, only the wire.

Pi girls.

The kids are getting used to the new mat on the table.

The syringe is another mission on the challenge.

The boys work on another robot.

This past Saturday we spent a good part of the day at Rhode Island College

at the First Lego League Kickoff Body Forward Challenge.
I think there were about 400 kids and half as many adults.

Okay maybe not that many but there was a lot of energy.

There are 61 Lego Robotics teams in Rhode Island this year.

Mary Johnson kicked off the ceremonies.

Last years Lego Robotics state champions showed the crowd

the missions for the Lego Table Game this year.

Each team has only two and a half minutes to complete the entire table.

Pi girls mom and our team coach.

Huge crowd. I was so proud of all of these kids.

They sat and listened and asked awesome questions.

The President of Rhode Island College, Nancy Carriuolo gave the opening address.
FLL gives away vast amounts of scholarship money each year.

During the course of the day the kids chose two seminars on Bioengineering that they were interested in attending. Many of the parents and coaches volunteered to help at the event.

The kids were given the choices of attending:

-Blood Cells-What They Are and How They Function in the Body.

-The Language of the Immune System.

-The Use of Biotechnology to Evaluate Heart Function.

-Germs!

-Biomedical Engineering and Prosthetics.

-Engineering and the Human Body.

Representative Jim Langevin stopped by with an inspiring message for the kids. He told them of how he came to be in a wheelchair and told them to never give up.

He showed them how his wheelchair can raise up so that he is face to face to speak with people and then demonstrated all the things that his wheelchair can do.

The kids went to their classes. There were many professors from Rhode Island College, The Community College of Rhode Island and many from different Biotechnology companies throughout Rhode Island. They all donated their time to these kids and FLL.

Morgan attended The Language of the Immune System.

Ryan Tassone, Associate Research Scientist, did a great job.

Morgan loved his power point presentation.

Then she attended the class on the heart function and learned

how assays are used to determine heart function.

And while this has nothing to with Legos...my husband ran his first half marathon in Newport and the kids took some pictures.

Congratulations honey, So proud of you.

Little man in Newport.

Again-nothing to do with legos.

Hillside playing.

If you haven't been involved with Lego Robotics,

start a team and get more information.

It's been a totally ENRICHing activity for Morgan.

Happy Lego Building!

Volunteering with Children

2010-10-11T20:46:00.007-04:00

It is often difficult to find Volunteer opportunities for children. Our homeschool group ENRICHri has done a great job of trying to instill volunteerism in children of all ages. Once a month our group volunteers at the Johnny Center and today we volunteered at the Sharing Locker. Almost a year ago our church started the Sharing Locker as a means to reach out to the community. The Sharing Locker helps those who are currently using the SNAP program. It is a non-food pantry.

Donations of all kinds are received to help families in need. Shampoo, conditioner, dishsoap, razors, pet foods, laundry detergents, diapers, toilet paper, paper towels, cleaning products and a whole host of other items are collected. Once a month the Sharing Locker opens it's doors to the public and gives away needed supplies.

In recent months, The Sharing Locker has almost doubled it's number of clients that it is serving. They have been in more need of help and supplies.

Our Homeschool group, some neighborhood kids and some church members all gathered today to mix and separate out laundry detergent. The kids mix the detergent in big batches by following the recipe, scoop it out into individual containers, label and stack them in boxes.

Folks of all ages and stages (and not just homeschoolers) came with

open hearts and helping hands.

We made 3 huge batches of Detergent and 103 separate containers for

The Sharing Locker's opening on the 16th.

We had 12 children and 5 adults helping today.

Detergent Recipe:

2 boxes of Borax
6 boxes of Ivory Snow Flakes

3 boxes of Arm and Hammar Washing Soda

Use 1-2 teaspoons-may need to be adjusted for your washing machine.

When we were done we smelled all soapy and clean.

The kids rested for a bit after cleanup.

And we joined some friends at the playground for lunch while the moms were able to talk. It was a gorgeous fall day. The kids collected acorns and mushrooms and explored the nearby woods.

A great day with friends, church family and neighbors.

What do you do to promote volunteerism in children?