Big Girl Bed!

We made the switch - very reluctantly!  With the baby's arrival approaching fast, we needed to fast track Sunshine into a big girl bed.  The baby is going to need the crib!  :)

I was worried - extremely worried.  Sunshine has always been my best sleeper.  She falls asleep easily at 7:30 each evening and doesn't wake up until at least 8 each morning.  When she wakes up at 8, she hangs out in her crib for at least another hour just singing to herself.  This is valuable time to a homeschooling momma.  Most days we are completely done with school when she does finally decide it's time to get up.  I prayed that this wouldn't end when the crib bars disappeared.

The first night was torture.  She was terrified.  I'm a "cry-it-out" mommy, so you'd think it wouldn't have bothered me that she was so miserable.  But it did -  a lot!  I sat with her for a long time before she finally fell mostly asleep.  She stayed in bed all night, but was up at about 6 the next morning ready to join us for the day.  Ughh!  Not how I was hoping the conversion would go.  Over the next week, she started going to bed much easier but would wake promptly at 6 each morning.  Our entire homeschooling schedule was forced into chaos!

But, Praise Be to God!, two months later and Sunshine has figured out the big girl bed!  She falls straight asleep each evening.  I've tried to snuggle with her plenty of nights, but she won't let me.  And we don't see her in the morning until at least 9.  She loves to just sit in her room and read books, build puzzles, or rearrange her babies.  It's been a wonderful transition!  Although it does break my heart to see our little girl growing up so fast!

December 27th, 2011

Merry Christmas!

December 25th, 2011

Christmas Eve Mass Family Picture

December 24th, 2011

Zep's First Wrestling Tournament

Zep participated in his first wrestling tournament over the weekend.  I was sick with anxiety over the whole ordeal.  I took several years of Judo as a child, and I clearly remember how nervous I was before each and every match.  I was so worried Zep would be just as nervous.  

The day started out pretty well.  Zep was excited to get out on the mat.  But that quickly faded as the first boy he fought pinned him and ended the match within 5 seconds.  Zep was a wreck - full on tears.  At this point, he'd only been practicing for about a month.  He really didn't know the rules...and neither did hubby or I.  Apparently if both of your shoulders hit the mat at the same time for several seconds the match is over.  We explained this to Zep, and he wiped away his tears for his second match.  Unfortunately, he lost this one as well.  But he took to heart what he had learned from the first match.  He made it much longer in the match and fought hard to keep his shoulders off the mat!  I was so proud of him!

Way to go little man!

December 3rd, 2011

Homeschool Christmas Play

Our homeschool group put on a wonderful Christmas pageant after First Friday Mass.  All the kids were assigned their "parts" ahead of time and showed up in their costumes on performance day.  I was really impressed on how well it all came together considering that we hadn't rehearsed at all.  One of the older children was in charge of narrating for each of the scenes and another sweet homeschooling girl played the guitar for us during the performance.  It was absolutely precious!

The boys were shepherds...Bright Eyes' Yoda costume has sure come in handy this year!  Who knew Yoda was so versatile!

December 2nd, 2011

O' Christmas Tree!

We made our yearly trip out to Old Baker Farm to find and cut down a Christmas tree.  I absolutely love this tradition.  The kids love it as well.  This year we were able to take a hay ride and tour the farm before we stopped to get our tree.

I forced the kids into taking a few decent pictures - we had to have something for the Christmas cards!

December 2nd, 2011

Just Because...

I think she's the most beautiful girl in the world!

December 1st, 2011

Sunshine and her loves!

This is a pretty typical sight around our house - Sunshine lying on the couch with her "bankie," her baby, and her fingers planted firmly in her mouth.  Such a cutie!

November 18th, 2011

A month of emotions...

This blog has yet again taken a back seat.  I'm so far behind it's ridiculous.  Sunshine is going to have absolutely no memories from her childhood if I don't get going soon!  But that's not going to happen today.  Today, I just wanted to throw up some quick updates and thoughts.

We've had quite an emotional last month or so.  There have been feelings of joy, grief, and fear.  Isn't it amazing how we can feel so many things in just a short amount of time.

Joy...
Hubby and I are expecting another little one in May of next year!  We're very excited.  I'm about 10 weeks along and so far this has been my most difficult pregnancy yet.  The nausea that I am experiencing pretty much all day everyday is miserable.  Misery can be endured though, especially when you remember that this is just a temporary inconvenience leading up to a joyous miracle.

Grief...
We attended the funeral of a Cursillo Brother this week.  After a battle with cancer he is now resting peacefully with our Lord.  Each Sunday, I've caught myself grieving over the empty pew in church that he and his wife would sit in each week.  Toward the end of his life he was no longer able to attend Mass.  Hubby was able to go and visit with him a few days before he passed.  At the funeral, his wife told hubby that he called his visit with hubby an encounter and that he had felt love.  He was a wonderful man who will be missed dearly.

Fear...
Our oldest friends in Birmingham, J & Y, are also Zep's Godparents.  We don't spend as much time together as we did in pre-children days, but they have always been like a part of our family.  This couple has been a wonderful God-filled presence in our life.  I've often said that if you were to ever look up the word Christian in a dictionary, J & Y's face would be under the definition.  Well, just recently my sweet friend, Y, was diagnosed with stage III breast cancer.  Her strength up to this point has been amazing.  She's been a true inspiration to me.  I am scared for Y; she's got such a hard road ahead of her.  I beg anyone who's reading this to please lift my friend up in prayer.  I know without any shadow of a doubt that God is going to work miracles through her.  They may not come in the form of a miraculous healing but more so in the people she touches along the way with her amazing faith and trust in God.

Halloween Pizza

Nana brought the boys these pizzas to make.  This was one treat that mommy didn't try to sneak a bit of...YUCK!

October 31st, 2011

Happy Halloween!

Love,
Yoda, Darth Vader, & Tinkerbell

October 31st, 2011

All you need is love!

Sharing over at The Homeschool Classroom today!

Evaluating ME!

I had the opportunity to attend an amazing hardcore Catholic boot-camp this past weekend, otherwise known as Cursillo!  This movement has done wonders for me and my faith.  You would think that after attending the weekend as a candidate and now after serving three weekends as a team member, it would all be old information for me.  But nope...I'm still learning!  He's truly not finished with me yet!

Being there, in the presence of some of the most holy women and man I know, really caused me to sit back and take a hard look at myself.  I get all the basics of the tripod...piety, study, action.  I've always known where I struggle in those areas.  No new news there, but definitely a reminder to try harder.

Would you be surprised that what ran through my thoughts the most was the world of technology?  I kept returning to it so often that it soon became clear that God was trying to get me to open my eyes.

I found myself remembering a piece of advice someone long ago told me.  They place a sign on their television with the question, "Would you watch this show if Jesus was sitting next to you?"  I'll admit that my husband has constantly pointed out my lack of morals when it comes to picking out my TV viewing.  It drives me crazy.  Probably because in the back of my head I know it's the truth.

So, yesterday I ran through my scheduled DVR program list and deleted a lot of shows.  Such a bittersweet moment!  I know I'm doing the right thing, but goodness it hurt to see that two hours of Grey's Anatomy leave the list of shows needing to be watched.  All forms of the Bachelor also disappeared; the Pad and -Ette!  It was like saying goodbye to a friend that you know only causes you trouble.  How ridiculous do I sound really?  I wish I wasn't serious!

Along with my TV addiction, comes my addiction to Facebook.  I don't spend hours at a time on it, but the five minutes here and there definitely add up to A LOT of wasted time.  Here's the dilemma, I use Facebook for so many necessary things...coupons, homeschooling information, etc.  So, I've spent the last two days unsubscribing from just about everyone's news feed that has no relevance to me.  I'm hoping this will be a balanced solution.

Photo credited to eeekays photography

What hit me the hardest...was a tremendous failure.  A friend, actually she's more like a family member, has been going through some tough stuff in her life lately.  I was there at first and then suddenly I wasn't.  I literally just disappeared when the going got tough for her.  Imagining what she must think of my abandonment is crippling.  There are no excuses to offer; I simply stunk at being a friend for her when she needed me most.  The only step to take now is to apologize and pray that she can one day accept it.

It's hard to look in the mirror; really, really look.  You have to look to see the cracks though.  Without seeing them how can you even begin to start making repairs.  I'm so thankful for the Cursillo weekend for giving me the opportunity to fix what I was trying so hard not to see.

Ancient History...a kind-of review

We decided that we would teach history to our children in a chronological format.  The curriculum we ultimately went with was The Story of the World, which originated from The Well-Trained Mind.  So far, I really like the program.  It's set up to do a chapter each week.  They give several different options of how to spread everything out during the week; we chose the four-day approach.  Day one and two we read through the chapter parts and then do narration and illustrations.  Day three we listen to the CD of these same chapters (I highly reccommend the CD!) and complete our map work and coloring pages.  And finally, on day four we read any additional literature I was able to find at the library, OR we do some of the wonderful suggested activities.

I really think this is a great history program for anyone looking into the classical approach of teaching.  My only complaints are where they chose to begin Volume 1.  Being a Christian history book, I expected to find the first chapter filled with Biblical history, i.e. creation, Adam and Eve, etc.  I was disappointed that it wasn't mentioned at all.  I have noticed that in just a couple chapters we will be studying Abraham and Joseph, so there is definitely Biblical history in The Story of the World just nothing on creation.  Also, my particular library carries very few of the suggested additional literature that is recommended.  I am a little apprehensive when it comes to teaching my children a subject that can be very subjective from one single source.  Having additional literature would have alleviated this problem.

For now, we'll stick with The Story of the World for our ancient studies.  I do think we'll switch to Connecting with History next year though.  Of course, I have about 8 months to decide that!  Don't you love how I like to worry about things so far off in the distance.  My husband's (and my mother-in-law's) favorite phrase is, "we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."  I guess I'm more of the, "but we need to know what the bridge is made of, how much weight it will support, and if it will get us to where we want to go," type of person!

In the midst of our Story of the World experience we have discovered fun crafts!  The boys learned about ancient writing recently.  How wonderful to have them actually make their own clay tablets with their names written in cuneiform!  I think it's such an added benefit when we can turn any of our learning into hands-on projects.

September 8th, 2011

Happy Birthday, Mary!!

September 8th is the day Catholics celebrate the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  I absolutely loved how their "real school" included special Marian-type snacks and crafts during this day.  It was a must for me to do this in our home school.

This morning it hit me!  A pancake rosary!  It worked out perfect.  I had all the "beads" made well before the boys made it downstairs for breakfast.  We used white chocolate chips as the chains between the "beads."

The boys loved putting our rosary together.  It was a wonderful lesson in the construction of the rosary as well.  They learned how many beads were in a decade and how many decades in a rosary.  And, of course, once it was complete we took the opportunity to pray this beautiful prayer together.  The boys took turns taking one of the "beads" off of the rosary after we finished each prayer.  I think this is the first time they actually paid attention during an entire run through of the rosary...we're generally a decade-a-night family.

We're celebrating even more tomorrow evening with our other sweet homeschooling friends. Happy Birthday, Blessed Virgin Mary!  How thankful we are that you said YES!

In case you miss me...

I'm writing monthly for The Homeschool Classroom!  You can find my latest contribution here!

We haven't disappeared...

I've been horrible, once again, at keeping up this blog.  It seems that homeschooling the children keeps me a little busier than before.  But really that's a horrible excuse, because I was barely blogging then either.

I do have a few excuses though.

I was asked to work the next Women's Cursillo weekend.  I was super excited, except for that part of having to give a talk!  One of my top three fears is speaking in public, and the fear is tripled when I have to talk about something personal.  I put off working on my talk until literally a week before I had to turn it in.  And then I prayed, a lot, for some help.  I so wish I could share it with you all!  I'm thrilled with how it turned out, and I truly can't wait to share it with the 32 women who will be making the weekend.  Did I mention that one of my dearest friends and my MOTHER-IN-LAW will be there?  I'm so excited!

We've been busy, busy homeschooling.  I've been pretty good at keeping up with our lesson plans and not getting too off track.  Our little homeschooling group has kept it's word of doing a weekly field trip.  A couple weeks ago we visited the Huntsville Space and Rocket Center.  Zep has become so intrigued with dinosaurs lately and SUE was on exhibit there.  It was a wonderful trip, and the kids had a blast!

So my lack of posts is definitely not from lack of adventures!  This blog of mine and I will be able to find some time again someday!

"Not" Back To School Blog Hop: School Room Week

It's time once again for more blog hopping with Heart of the Matter!  This week she has us all focusing on the room we'll be schooling in.  I sort of chuckle at that, because I'm almost positive that we'll be schooling just about everywhere.  Zep and I prefer to kick our legs up on the living room coffee table to do his work.  And I'm longing for the days when cooler weather heads our way, so we can throw out a blanket in the backyard and do our assignments in the beautiful outdoors!

But...I did prepare a room!  Let me just say, I LOVE IKEA!  For a cheap fix for any room it's the way to go.  We started organizing this room back in May and it finally was complete this week.  I'm excited to show it to you all...

The wall of IKEA shelving...

I'm still trying to figure out how I need to organize everything.  I suppose that once I have a little more experience I'll get a system down.  For right now I have each of the kids books grouped together.  I took an area for myself.  And, of course, all shelves within the reach of the babe are dedicated to her toys!  The boys have desks together, and I put a smaller table by the windows for days that Sunshine feels compelled to eat color with crayons!  :)

The bookcases are from the Billy collection at IKEA.  They even sell doors for the shelves that cost about $10 each.  You can see the one I bought on the far left.  The desks are also from IKEA.  Each desk cost $10.  They're pretty sturdy for being so cheap.  They're a bit tall, so you'll either have to buy adjustable chairs or look into the adjustable legs for the table instead of the ones I have pictured here.  Lastly, the chairs are also IKEA, but I don't suggest those.

My desk area...

I've had these desks forever!  They were my daddy's and now they'll be used to homeschool my children.  This is also were the computer area will be.  Hubby got me the awesome cork board; I repaid him by hanging it myself!

Supplies...

These are the greatest gadgets ever!  We've got all of our colored pencils, markers, glue sticks, scissors, etc in these two little hangie thingies.  They're fantastic!  FYI:  To buy said hangie thingies see IKEA's kitchen organization section.

And that's it!  I absolutely love this room now.  It has changed images multiple times over the last years and this is by far my favorite look.  I'm counting down the days till I'm able to ring our school bell and get our first day started!

Not Back-To-School Blog Hop: 2011-2012 Curriculum

I just love taking part in blog hops!  I've already posted our first-year curriculum, but I have to do it one more time to take part in this newest hop!  Thanks to Heart of the Matter for hosting.

Getting to this final list was a big ol' pain in the rear end.  Being new to the homeschooling world, I was very confused with all the choices that were out there for curriculum.  I must have changed my mind a bazillion times.  It finally came to a point where I had to just say, "That's it!" and write down the final curriculum in red ink.  I'm super excited with our choices, and I'm counting down the days until we start this wild ride!

And here is what our final list looks like:

*This is only for Zep, who will be entering first grade.  Bright Eyes will be in 4K, so he will mostly be just hanging out with us and/or Sunshine.

Language Arts

• Literature (Tales/Fables/Classics/Poetry) - We'll be following the Mater Amabilis lesson plan.
• Writing - Writing With Ease Level 1
• Grammar - First Language Lessons Level 1 & Language of God Level A
• Phonics - Little Angel Readers B,C, & D
• Handwriting - Handwriting 1 for Young Catholics
• Read aloud and silent reading - First Grade Faith and Freedom Readers & Scholastic Level 1 & & 2 books.

Math

• Saxon Math 1

History

• Story of the World: Volume 1

Religion

• We'll be following the Mater Amabilis lesson plan for religion.
• Hubby is going to teach the kids an extra amount of catechism in the evening after dinner from The New Saint Joseph First Communion Catechism. 

Science

• Noeo Science: Biology I

Geography

• Maps, Charts, and Graphs Level A

Art Appreciation

• Child-Size Masterpieces: Mommy, It's A Renoir! Intermediate

Music

• Piano lessons given by the famous pianist, ME!  Yeah right, I'm just hoping I can teach him to read music!!
• 36 Traditional Catholic Hymns and several other classical pieces that we'll listen to before bed each night.

And that's it folks!!!  After months and months of struggling with what to do next year...this is it!  Am I expecting it to go as wonderfully as my mind is dreaming it...absolutely not!!  I'm pretty sure we'll be doing a lot of shifting as the year goes on.  I'm not a teacher, but I love my children.  And maybe, just maybe we'll learn to love to learn together!!!

Sunshine - 5 month stats

Weight - 22.6 lbs

Height - 31.5 inches

Head - 18.5 inches

June 16th, 2011

The "Modified" Homeschool Mother's Journey...v2...The one where I talk about our 2011-2012 curriculum

If you want to join in on this meme, head over to The Homeschool Chick for The Homeschool Mother's Journey. She's provided some fun questions to answer each week!  And she's even doing a Summer Edition now!! 

In our homeschool this week next year...

I honestly feel sorry for the people that had to counsel me during my curriculum research.  My personality type tends to be more towards the "let's jump on the first train riding by" rather than "let's wait awhile and make sure it's the right train first."  As soon as I was certain homeschooling was for our family, I wanted everything done; the books bought, the schoolroom put together, the lesson plan in order.  It took a lot of prayer and a lot of guidance from some experienced homeschooling mommies to calm me down and rethink the train our family would be boarding.  I definitely rode a few on the way though...the Seton train, the Well-Trained Mind train, the Mother of Divine Grace train, the Catholic Heritage Curricula train, the Mater Amabilis train.

And here is where these trains finally dropped us off..

*This is only for Zep, who will be entering first grade.  Bright Eyes will be in 4K, so he will mostly be just hanging out with us and/or Sunshine.

Language Arts

• Literature (Tales/Fables/Classics/Poetry) - We'll be following the Mater Amabilis lesson plan.
• Writing - Writing With Ease Level 1
• Grammar - First Language Lessons Level 1 & Language of God Level A
• Phonics - Little Angel Readers B,C, & D
• Handwriting - Handwriting 1 for Young Catholics
• Read aloud and silent reading - First Grade Faith and Freedom Readers & Scholastic Level 1 & & 2 books.

Math

• Saxon Math 1

History

• Story of the World: Volume 1

Religion

• We'll be following the Mater Amabilis lesson plan for religion.
• Hubby is going to teach the kids an extra amount of catechism in the evening after dinner from The New Saint Joseph First Communion Catechism. 

Science

• Noeo Science: Biology I

Geography

• Maps, Charts, and Graphs Level A

Art Appreciation

• Child-Size Masterpieces: Mommy, It's A Renoir! Intermediate

Music

• Piano lessons given by the famous pianist, ME!  Yeah right, I'm just hoping I can teach him to read music!!
• 36 Traditional Catholic Hymns and several other classical pieces that we'll listen to before bed each night.

And that's it folks!!!  After months and months of struggling with what to do next year...this is it!  Am I expecting it to go as wonderfully as my mind is dreaming it...absolutely not!!  I'm pretty sure we'll be doing a lot of shifting as the year goes on.  I'm not a teacher, but I love my children.  And maybe, just maybe we'll learn to love to learn together!!!

Small Successes v2

Join Sherry over at Chocolate For Your Brain for this week's Small Successes link-up!!!

When I sat down to review my week, I had a hard time thinking of things to list as successes.  Really, this week has been a big ol' pile of you-know-what for me!  I'm overly emotional and just plain tired!

I think I had this beautiful vision of how this summer was going to go, and so far (week two) it's not living up to that!  So...guess what folks...next week I'm changing that.  We're taking the week off!!  The only thing on my schedule is an orthopedic appointment and our monthly Confraternity of Christian Mother's Mass.  Beyond these and grocery shopping, we will be doing NOTHING!!!  Nothing, that is, except for what is on my very detailed daily schedule.  The schedule that I love.  The schedule that allows me time to play with my kids and sit for an hour in the afternoon and just breath.  I complained so often about the hustle and bustle of the school year and here I've gone and just transferred it to our summer!  So to my friends...if I don't answer the phone or return your email...it's because I've declared next week OUR time!  We'll chat and hang out soon, I promise!  I just need to regroup!

And here are the successes I was able to pry out of my brain...

• We now have 24 meals cooked and frozen in the freezer!!  Can I tell you how freeing it is to just quickly heat up something 10 minutes before hubby is due to arrive home??  It's absolutely amazing!! 
• I vacuumed and mopped the downstairs floor!!  I was feeling pretty good about that until about 50 kids ran through the house full of mud and sand.  Oh well, so is the life of a stay-at-home mom.
• I finished a wonderful book titled Following Mary to Jesus.  I really recommend it to anyone who's looking for an easy read.  I have a strong devotion to Mary.  I often ask her to intercede in prayer for me when I need something especially important.  When I'm sick or can't sleep, I often envision her in the room with me lying her hand on my head to comfort me or placing her beautiful blue shawl over me for warmth.  The book did a wonderful job explaining how through Mary we are able to know her Son even more.  For who knew Jesus better than his own mother??   

If you'd like to toot your horn a bit too, join the link-up over at Chocolate For Your Brain!!

The Homeschool Mother's Journey...v1

I'm becoming slightly addicted to the blogging world of link-ups and memes (pronounced like dreams).  I love that they give me a place to start when it comes to writing.  Although, I'm pretty good at spitting out enough words (notice I didn't say good words) to fill a blog space, I'm horrible when it comes to thinking of fresh ideas. 

I came across The Homeschool Mother's Journey meme on one of the 5 billion homeschool blogs I follow.  And since "real" school has officially ended, I've decided to start calling myself a homeschooling mommy.  It's my school and I can call myself what I want to!  :)   In my defense, we have been doing some schoolwork, so I am technically teaching!

If you want to join in on this meme, head over to The Homeschool Chick for The Homeschool Mother's Journey.  She's provided some fun questions to answer each week!

 

In my life this week…

We're trying to settle into a summer groove.  This week has been a bad example of how weeks to come will go.  Tuesday was truly the only uneventful day we had.  The rest of the week we had some friends come over to play, I was finally able to take Bright Eyes to have his speech evaluated (he passed!), and then we had family in town for an evening.  I'm truly hoping that next week is more of a "normal" week, and we'll be able to get on schedule.

In our homeschool this week…

We're focusing this summer on math and reading...especially on reading.  If you know me even a little, you know that I'm ridiculous when it comes to planning.  The summer schedule is a pretty crazy example of that.  It's color coded and time stamped!  I'm insane, I know!  But so far, so good!  The boys alternated between working with me on their bookwork and doing their lessons on the computer.  And our sweet Sunshine was very sweet to us and slept until 9 each morning allowing us lots of time to finish things!

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

This question stinks!!  Today, I should be lounging poolside with my best friend enjoying her husband's famous mojitos.  But, I'm too chicken to be too far from the hospital in case Bright Eyes has a relapse, so here I sit...on my couch!  I guess it turned out okay, because Sunshine has come down with some sort of illness and keeps spiking a fever.  That would have been zero fun at the beach.  We did have some special visitors yesterday and today...Gramma, Bop-Bop, and Aunt C!

My favorite thing this week was…

Ultreya!  Without question....have YOU thought about going on a Cursillo weekend?????

What’s working/not working for us…

I'm absolutely loving Saxon math.  The meeting is wonderful!  I was surprised to find that Zep really didn't understand the whole month/year/date thing.  The rest of the lesson is incredibly easy, so I'm really glad we're beginning it early.  Hopefully, by the time we start learning new material it'll be just about time to kick-off the new school year.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

Poor Bop-Bop thought he was going out to enjoy some quiet time with his newspaper and coffee!!  Two little boys thought it would be fun to follow suit! 

Small Successes v1

In the past, Faith and Family Live has hosted a link-up each Thursday called Small Successes.  Recently, Sherry, over at Chocolate For Your Brain, has taken on the hosting roll!  I've been stalking several bloggers who regularly take part in this link-up, and have loved the concept and loved reading the things they've shared. 

In the busy world of mommy hood, rarely do we take time to pat ourselves on the back for things that we have been able to accomplish.  These especially include...the little things.  I don't know about you girls, but sometimes the only success I feel in a day is that I've managed to wipe the kitchen counters clean, about 50 times!

I, too often, spend all my time hashing over the things I screwed up each day...and believe me, there's a whole lot of hashing to do on that subject!!  But, I really think it's more important to reflect back on our week and see what good we were able to do.  This can include extra time spent with the kids, fitting an extra decade of the rosary into the day, finishing a great book, or just finally getting to bed at a reasonable hour.  This is what Small Successes is all about.  Simply three things you've succeeded at!

So, excuse me now while I toot my own horn a bit!  :)

•  Last year the boys and I decided to do a wildflower garden just outside our back porch.  We threw down some seeds, covered the area with dirt, and watered it when the thought crossed our minds.  The window beyond the kitchen table soon became my favorite place to sit.  I was able to admire our garden from there.  Every day dozens of butterflies would visit our garden as well as several hummingbirds.  I promised the boys that we'd plant another garden this year.  This week we finally did!  I loaded up the kids and made the trip to Home Depot.  Hopefully, in a couple weeks we'll have an assortment of beautiful flowers growing once again!
• About five years ago, my neighbor introduced me to the concept of once a month cooking.  It intrigued me but never enough for me to try it.  I think with our first year of homeschooling creeping up on us, I'm desperate to make things as simple as possible around here.  So, I borrowed my neighbors book and went to work creating my first once a month cooking shopping list.  I finished purchasing everything today.  This weekend will be a marathon of cooking as I attempt to cook and freeze 27 meals!  I'm praying this works well.  Do you know how wonderful it would be to not have to cook a meal every single evening????
• And lastly, I managed to make it through Zep's graduation ceremony without a COMPLETE breakdown.  There was definitely a breakdown, it just wasn't completely horrible!  I can't believe he's big enough to be in 1st grade now.  Plus I had the added emotion of saying goodbye to teachers (especially the pre-K ones) and knowing that this would be the last time I would share these sort of memories with my best friends.

If you'd like to toot your horn a bit too, join the link-up over at Chocolate For Your Brain!!

A Wednesday Morning Blessing...

I've had a rough couple of days.  My emotions are all over the place.  Thankfully, I was able to call a good friend to just sit with me on Monday.  And then yesterday, I totally lost my cool and went on a rampage.  Thankfully, again, I was able to attend our monthly Ultreya last evening.  The peace that all my wonderful Cursillo sisters and brothers provide me is unmeasurable! 

I wish I could put my feelings into words.  I'm overwhelmed.  I look at my son, and from the surface, he looks fine.  But I know that inside that beautiful little boy is a heart that is damaged.  I'm constantly searching every inch of his body for rashes or signs that the disease has returned.  The poor kid!  I'm sure if I ask to look at his bottom or stick out his tongue one more time he's going to start screaming at me.  Thankfully, we'll be able to see his cardiologist next week to see if the condition of his left coronary artery has changed any.  We're praying that all has returned to normal.  If so, I think we can move on with our lives with just the precaution of a heart healthy diet and a watchful eye of arthritic pain.  It's obviously not the life you want for any of your children, but we'll take whatever we can get.

God gave me a special blessing this morning when I turned on the radio.  I needed to hear this today.  I needed to be reminded that it's okay to be sad and upset.

When listening to the song it also reminded me of a fellow mommy friend of mine who is also going through some tough stuff with her own son who was recently diagnosed with Type I diabetes.  So, YankeeBelle, this is for you too!

Chronicles of a soon-to-be homeschooling mom...v3

Tomorrow Zep will take his walk down the aisle of the church and "officially" graduate from Kindergarten.  I've been anxiously awaiting this day for the last several months.  The day when I'm no longer rushing to school in the morning, rushing home in the evening, and trying somewhere in there to connect with my kids.  And now the day is upon me...and I'm scared &*"#*$&#!!! 

I've watched the Facebooks posts: 

What am I going to do with my kids home ALL summer!
I can't believe my preschooler will be gone all week next year!
We're so excited for the break during the summer!

I'm not much of a status Facebooker; I much prefer to stalk other's status' instead.  If I were to type up a status today it would read something like...

Starting tomorrow what in the world am I going to do with my children until they go to college??  They're really going to be with me EVERY SINGLE DAY??!!!  Will I ever get a break again??

Scared = Me!!  I've heard that the first year is the hardest.  Sticking through that year will be the determining factor on how well this will work for me.  I'm getting rid of all the uniforms, and I've already spent an arm and a leg at IKEA, so we have no choice but to make homeschooling work.  Plus, all those wonderful ladies at the convention pretty much made me feel guilty to ever want to part with my children again!!!  Not to mention the books I've read in support of homeschooling.  I feel like the apostles after first seeing Jesus resurrected..suddenly my eyes were opened!  I know that this is for the long haul.  We previously thought we'd think about high school when we got there.  But even now, I kinda think they'll stay home then as well.  Heck, if we've made it that far...why not continue!!

Besides being scared, I'm excited!!  I can't wait to watch my children learn.  Zep has gotten into this reading kick lately.  All he wants to do is sit in my lap and read to me.  And not to brag or anything (okay, maybe I'm bragging a little), but he's pretty dang good!  It makes my heart sing to hear him read.  I'm excited to become a part of the wonderful Catholic homeschooling group in our area.  I've already met some incredibly faithful women.  I can't wait to learn from them and feed off their Jesus vibes!

So, tomorrow...I'll probably cry.  A lot of the friends I've made at our school will become distant memories.  With four weekend Masses, we're very likely to miss one another.  The dreams that I once had for my children have changed.  Their friends will change, as will mine.  Although scared and excited, I'm ready.  I'm ready for the new adventure..the one that waits beyond the Kindergarten graduation!

Intro to Weightloss Wednesday

A blogger "friend" of mine has decided to start up a weight loss "support group" through the blogging world.  Since, I'm already a huge fan of her blog and read it daily, I thought, "what the heck!"  I've been struggling with my weight since college.  I clearly remember being determined to be below 130 for my wedding day.  I'm pretty sure I didn't make that.  Oh, how I'd give now to be anywhere near the 130s.

After three babies and complete laziness, it's time to get my rear in gear.  About 3 years ago, I had managed to get to a very, very low 117.  My methods were completely unorthodox and should have landed me in a clinic.  I have no desire to be that low again, but anything in the 120s would be fab!! 

Before our Kawasaki's showdown, I had managed to take off about 10 pounds, but then put it all back on (plus some) with crummy hospital food and all the wonderful goodies left by friends. 

Today was a new start.  I made it up in time to get 30 minutes on the elliptical in, and I've yet to eat any of the sugary goodness piled in my the house!!   We'll see how it goes!  If you'd like to play along, visit my friend over at A Mother's Heritage to link up!

Part of the Weightloss Wednesday Linkup

We're getting in the limo...

I was just reminded that, unless you can read my Facebook page, you probably have no idea that WE'RE HOME!!!!  The rest of the next 5 weeks will be about healing our little boy.  He'll need to gain his strength back and take an aspirin regimen to reduce the swollen artery in his heart.  Hubby and I both feel great about where Bright Eyes health is at this moment.

So, for now folks, we're moving on....

I've put together a weekly schedule for our summer, and we're going to start homeschooling officially tomorrow!  Yes, we will be one of those crazy families that continues to school though out the summer break.  Don't judge me yet though!!!  We'll JUST be doing some basic phonics and math work.  Tops...an hour a day! 

We're ready to put this last couple weeks behind us, rejoice in all of God's graces, and move on to the wonderful life that is ahead of us!

As we walked out of the hospital today, a beautiful little girl was being pushed out in wheelchair.  She had lost all of her hair, so I'm sure she had been suffering from cancer.  Awaiting her in the driveway was a white stretch limousine.  From the people talking, I gathered that she was finally in remission and this was her congratulatory drive home.  That limo was the beginning of her new life, without illness.

The Heart of the Home limo takes off tonight!!!  Thanks again to EVERYONE for EVERYTHING!  I would send out thank you cards, but I'm sure I would forget someone.  Please know that hubby and I have been so incredibly humbled by all the love we have received.  We can only pray that we have the opportunity to pass it on to the next person/persons in need!  Love you all!

Just another day at the hospital...

I'm starting to really figure out my new "home away from home."  I've got most of the rules down, and can find all the necessary places in the hospital.  This really is the greatest hospital.  They have so many activities for the kids, and (overall) the staff is pretty incredible!

But...regardless of how wonderful it is...I WANT TO GO HOME!!!  And it looks like that may happen tomorrow at some point.  The doctors came in at lunch and verified that all of his symptoms were either gone or almost gone.  His ECHO from yesterday showed no additional damage to his heart (Praise God!).  The only symptom that really seems to be hanging around is his inability to walk around very much.  His little legs just hurt.  So, he's been riding in a wagon through the halls.  We visited the game room, where I finally kicked his booty in air hockey, and we stopped by the activity room and painted a few pictures.  We even had a lunch date in the cafeteria.

As long as things remain the same, we'll be released tomorrow.  And then we'll pray that the symptoms don't return again at home.  If they do, the doctors said something about doing yada, yada, yada or maybe blah, blah, blah.  Yeah, I think I just didn't hear all the "ifs."  I'll worry about the "ifs" IF the need arises!

Bright Eyes wants to send a shout-out to all his homies in PreK!  He hopes that the Mass and celebration were fun today, and he misses everyone very much!! 

How things looks today...

I have very little to update. I think my brain has become mush regardless, so it's probably a good thing that I don't have to push it very much for information.

A team of people came in this morning to see B.E.  There was an attendee, some residents, and some grad students.  (Please all you medical people, if I'm using the wrong terms, forgive me!)  Hubby said it was like a scene from Grey's Anatomy.  The attending doctor asked one of the residents to go over the case.  The resident read through the facts and verified them with hubby.  I was really disappointed that we weren't able to have our original doctor, but my disappointment didn't last long.  Hubby said our new doctor looks just like Sandra Oh.  And everyone knows that Dr. Cristina Yang is one of the best heart doctors around.  I mean, seriously people, she almost single-handedly saved Callie a couple weeks ago.  We couldn't be in better hands!!! 

Ok, back to reality! :)  The IVIG finished at about 1pm.  B.E.'s eyes and lips are looking better.  His rash really hasn't changed much.  He managed to VERY slowly walk to the bathroom, so at least he's bearing weight on his feet now.  They performed an ECHO on him again, and we're still awaiting the results.  This is probably a good thing, as I'm sure they'd have responded quickly if there was a problem.  So, once again we're on a 24 hour hold to see how his symptoms react to the infusion.  The doctor doesn't usually make her rounds until the evening, so I'm assuming it'll be at least until then before we're able to leave.  As much as I'm ready to be out of here again, I want to make sure that we've got this thing kicked and we won't have to come back.

Until tomorrow...

Unless, of course, I feel the need to unleash my feelings of the evening!  ;)

Bright Eyes' Prayer Warriors

Our little boy has gained quite the group of prayer warriors.  We have family praying, friends praying, family of friends praying, and even strangers praying.  I truly believe that without it things would be so different now.  Both hubby's and my spirits have stayed quite high today, and I truly attribute that to all of you that have given of your time to lift up our child.

How beautiful is this list....(thanks especially to Heather for setting this up!)

9:30:  Heather

10:00:  Kathleen

10:30: Stacey, Susan, Brooke, Cathy, Beth
11:00:  Susan's mom, Patty
11:30:  Terry, Suzannne

12:00:  Carol, Patty
12:30:  Stacie, Stacey
1:00:  Sheila, Jamie, Joanne, Stacey's mom
1:30:  Brian
2:00:  Kathleen, Teresa
2:30:  Janie, Traci
3:00:  Michelle, Cathy's mom, Peg, Polly, Lynette
3:30:  Denise, Polly, Jackie
4:00:  Chesney, Jacqueline, Doug, Melanie, Amanda
4:30:  Betty
5:00:  Jill's mom
5:30:  Yvonne, Jonni, Whitney, Sarah, Stacey, Cathy's sister, Cathy's niece, Tina, Erin
6:00:  Regina
6:30:  Beth, Erin, Mary Gay
7:00:  Amy, Rinn
7:30:  Rinn, Angela
8:00:  Kristina, Kate
8:30:  Jenny, Kristina, Annie, Jean
9:00:  Jill, Kristina, Ginger, Linda, Sheila, Melanie
9:30:  Marie, Lori
10:00 pm:  Christie
10:00 p.m-4:00 a.m:  Erika (in between patients and during breaks)
3:30 a.m.:  Heidi (while nursing babes)
4:30 am: Annie
Sometime late tonight:  Renee, Carrie

We were also told that a friend, who's uncle is a priest, said Mass for Bright Eyes today.  So very special!  Mac and Nana couldn't stand it anymore, so Mac is headed our direction.  They love their little man!

On a completely different note...I have one more small request.  I know, I know...how could I possibly ask for more!!??!!  But this one isn't for me...I've had a very special little girl in my life for several years.  She's not my daughter, but I love her like one of my own.  She holds a big ol' piece of my heart.  Yesterday she had a slight spill and prayers are needed for her adorable little head!  So while you're praying for our Bright Eyes please pray for "my girl" as well!  Thanks so much!

The post where I whine...and rant...

It's 10:15pm.  On a normal Sunday evening, my husband and I would be in bed, turning out the lights for the night.  We would have just checked in on all of the children to give them their nightly blessing.  All would be right within our four walls.  But tonight, there are only three people at home, because our Bright Eyes was once again admitted to the hospital. 

Yesterday, B.E. started showing signs of the rash that he never had during his entire time at the hospital.  By the end of the day he said it hurt too much to walk.  Today he woke up relatively fine.  His eyes looked almost completely white again, his lips just a tad on the red side.  Hubby and I played a silly scavenger hunt game with both Zep and Bright Eyes.  We noticed that B.E. was limping a bit, but I was warned ahead of time that he might suffer some arthritis-type symptoms for several more weeks.  At about 4pm, he started refusing to walk again and complained of horrible pain in his feet.  His eyes and lips had both reddened.  We took him to soak in a warm bath and things suddenly turned horrible.  The rash on his body intensified and he was writhing in pain.  He was screaming and crying.  All I could do was hold his hand.  I tried so hard, but I couldn't keep myself from crying uncontrollably.  I know I scared Zep, and for that I feel horrible. 

The on-call Infectious Disease doctor suggested we bring him back to the hospital.  We waited a whole 5 minutes before they called us back and went to work on him.  When the nurse came in with a "newbie" nurse, she asked him if he'd ever seen Kawasaki Disease before; he hadn't.  She went on to explain to him that he was looking at a classic case.  Yes, reassuring to know that we've got a definite diagnosis, but not good because I don't want him to have this disease anymore and all she has to do is look at him to see it.  And here we thought things were getting better.

They've already had to stick him twice for blood and an IV line.  I HATE this...and I HATE saying that word, but I really HATE it!  The entire time we were carrying him to the car the only thing he kept saying was that he didn't want any more shots.  All I want to do is hold him and make him feel better.  My little boy should be going to his last day of school tomorrow with his friends, and instead he'll be in a hospital room receiving another blood transfusion.  It's just not fair.  I know I'm supposed to be strong.  I know I should be thankful that it's not something worse, but I'M NOT!  I'm sorry if that's selfish, but this sucks!

So, once again, I beg you for your prayers.  Lord, please let this next IVIG treatment be his last!  Lord, please let us have our little boy back!!  I don't care if he colors on the walls, sticks gum in his hair, or rides on the garage door...I just want him back!!  And Lord, please help me to trust in You!  I know that this is in Your hands.  Help me to let go and let You!

Home Again, Home Again...

I'm sorry I didn't post something earlier.  Blogger has been on the fritz for the past day or so.  I'll do my best to update everyone with as much information as my little memory box can hold...

Within hours of Bright Eyes' IVIG treatment, he began to improve.  It really was absolutely amazing!  I can not even begin to sing enough praises about our doctor.  She was able to diagnose him quickly even though he wasn't showing all of the typical signs of Kawasaki Disease (KD).  It was one of those moments when she heard hoof beats and thought zebras, not horses.  If the diagnosis had gone unsolved for even only a few days more we could have been facing permanent heart damage. 

On Thursday, Bright Eyes woke up noticeably different.  The swelling in his neck was almost completely gone.  His energy level was up, as was his appetite.  The little stinker ate an entire donut that Gramma brought him.  His liquid IV infiltrated during the night, so his poor little hand looked like a balloon, but he didn't even complain much about that.  During the day we took two outings.  Some wonderful employees from the IT department at Southern Company were letting the kids "Build a Bear" on one of the upper floors.  Bright Eyes enjoyed coloring a t-shirt for "Robo Bear."  They took some cute pictures of him and let us keep the copies.  We also ventured over to the Children's Harbor where B.E. beat me in air hockey! 

Walking around the hospital was a very humbling experience for me.  There is nothing more uplifting and inspiring than seeing a 3-year-old suffering from cancer dancing through the halls with a huge smile across his face.  Or watching a 10-year-old who'd recently undergone brain surgery smile proudly at a camera after being glamorized with make-up and a tiara.  We can learn so much from children.  Their bravery and courage is amazing.  And they have such incredible trust towards their doctors and parents.  It's easy to see why God calls us to be as children.  I sure wish my bravery, courage, and trust were even mildly close to those of the children I saw at the hospital this week.

Today WE'RE HOME!  Hubby just drove Gramma home.  I'm exhausted.  Bright Eyes hasn't sat down for more than 5 minutes.  Zep's fever is down.  Sunshine is practically running around the house (oh yeah, in the midst of the last several weeks, she started walking).  Life is practically back to normal!!

We made the decision today to keep the boys home from school for the remainder of the year (a whole 5 days!).  We just can't take the chance of either of the kids picking up a sickness that may mix with the high doses of aspirin Bright Eyes has been on, because there's the VERY slim chance he could end up getting Reye's Syndrome.  I think after one of your children comes down with a rare Japanese disease, you tend to become a little more afraid of even the VERY slim chances. 

Again, we can't thank everyone enough.  We've received prayers, kid sitting, meals, home cleanings, a lawn mowing, gifts and cards galore for Bright Eyes, and encouraging words on a daily basis.  If we don't get around to thanking you personally, please know it's not because we're not appreciative.  We feel incredibly blessed to be surrounded by so many wonderful people.  We love you all!!

Diagnosis: Kawasaki Disease

We had another rough night last night. Bright Eyes was running a high fever for most of the night and was very irritable.  The nurses were in and out of the room for the first several hours, and then he stayed very restless the remainder of the night.

The doctor came in this morning and explained everything we were to expect today.  She has been so wonderful with us; we're very thankful for her.  As she was leaving, the cardiologist came in to do an echocardiogram.  Kawasaki Disease is known to be one of the leading causes of heart disease in young children.  One of the sure signs of the disease is inflammation of the coronary arteries.  During the ECHO the cardiologist did find that Bright Eyes had inflammation is his left coronary artery.  From this and the rest of the symptoms that he has, both the cardiologist and our infectious disease doctor have determined that Bright Eyes does indeed have Kawasaki Disease. 

They just began the IVIG treatment and are slowly increasing the rate that he receives it.  At the moment he seems comfortable and is watching TV.  The doctors have all assured us that he will more than likely have no long lasting problems from this.  The IVIG will be given for 10 hours along with a very high dose of aspirin.  If all goes well, we should have a completely different little boy tomorrow morning.  They'll keep us for an additional 24 hours to be sure the fever does not return.  If it does, we'll probably be looking at another dose of the IVIG.

Our parish priest came by this morning and anointed Bright Eyes and brought hubby and I communion.  This definitely brought some peace to all of us. 

Zep stayed the night at another friend's home last evening.  She called and let me know that he had a tough night.  This morning his teacher emailed me and said she also noticed he wasn't acting himself.  She let me call him on her cell phone and I could tell he was crying.  He's complaining that his stomach hurts; I'm not sure if he's just nervous about what's happening or if he's not feeling well.  My mom went and checked him out and he's on the way to the hospital to visit now.  Please keep him in your prayers.  We forget how aware our little ones are. 

UPDATE...Zep and my mom showed up, and guess what???? He's running a fever of 101.5!  I may indeed lose my mind!!!  So, we're trying to figure out how to deal with that.

If all goes well...the next post should be a happy one!!!!  Dear Jesus, please let the next post be a happy one!!!

 The IVIG...hopefully our miracle drug!!!

Bright Eyes' horrible attempt at smiling with his new friend, "Paws"

Important Update...PLEASE PRAY!!!!!

The doctor came in and spent a good amount of time speaking with me.  Apparently she IS an infectious disease doctor (oops!).  She's ordered a whole bunch of additional tests.  We just returned from an ultrasound, and they'll be coming in to do more blood work shortly.  SHHH...don't tell Bright Eyes...he's going to freak out. 
.....
They just finished the blood work, and, yep, he freaked out! 
....
At the ultrasound, he needed to use the restroom.  I placed him on the floor to walk and he nearly fell over.  His legs are completely giving out on him.  He's barely able to stand at the potty without his knees and ankles buckling on him.  When we got back from getting the ultrasound there were infectious disease papers all over the door.  Apparently they'll be running another test on him tomorrow, and if it comes back positive it's extremely contagious.  So, in preparation for a positive test, we're being quarantined.  I guess it's like being treated as guilty before proven innocent.

All the tests should arrive back by tomorrow afternoon.  At that point, if everything is negative, the doctor will probably determine that he has what is called atypical Kawasaki's disease.  I'm not going into all the specifics of the disease, just google it or click here .  The treatment will be a 10 hour IVIG, which is an infusion of blood antibodies, as well as high doses of aspirin.  I'm not really ready to talk about the lasting effects of the disease, please just go to the link for that information.

We need pray warriors more than ever right now...please pray that whatever is wrong with our baby that it is something simple, treatable, and without long-term complications.