Update

The surgeries are over and Katlyn is on her way home with Grandma. Austin had a more difficult time of it so we will be here a bit longer. I am in the recovery room with him now and he is asleep. He woke up very groggy and upset so they put him back to sleep to let the meds wear off a little. His tongue was numb so he didn't feel like he could swallow and it made him mad. His tonsils were huge as well as his adnoids and the surgery took longer making recovery more difficult. I'll update more later.

Busy Day Tomorrow

Austin and Katlyn both have to have minor surgery tomorrow. Austin will have his tonsils and adnoids out so he can finally breath without gagging and Katlyn is having a growth cut from her uvula. Hers will need a biopsy.

Why Do They Use Zeros?

We teach our children that zero is nothing, zip, zilch, nada. Why then do their teachers use it on a Kindergartener's paper and on their report card. My son is in Kindergarten and has a weekly Bible Verse test. He comes home with the paper and at the very top is a nice big O. He takes this as a zero and not as the O for Outstanding that it really is and is dissappointed every week. I have tried to explain to him that it means he got O wrong and everything was great but he gets upset (only for a brief moment) every week over that "grade". The big one was when he came home on Friday with his report card and just threw it disgustingly on the table saying it was all bad. I asked him what was the matter and he said he got all Zeros. I opened it up to discover he had indeed gotten all O's (for Outstanding). I think we convinced him that it was a good report card but I don't understand why they need to use that grading systerm. Obviously the Kindergarteners do not understand the difference between a O and a 0. I mean come on. Who wants a big fat O at the top of their page.

Stress

I found this on a friend's blog and just had to share it.

This is a specially formulated diet designed to help women cope with the stress that builds during the day.

Breakfast
1 grapefruit
1 slice whole wheat toast
1 cup skim milk

Lunch
1 small portion lean, steamed chicken
1 cup spinach
1 cup herbal tea
1 Hershey's kiss

Afternoon Tea
The rest of the Hershey Kisses in the bag
1 tub of Hagen-Daaz ice cream with chocolate chips

Dinner
4 glasses of wine (red or white)
2 loaves garlic bread
1 family size supreme pizza
3 Snickers Bars

Late Night Snack
1 whole Sarah Lee cheesecake (eaten directly from the freezer)

REMEMBER: STRESSED SPELLED BACKWARDS IS DESSERTS

We Finally Have Snow!

We finally got a small amount of snow. Nathan stood at the door and asked to go out for quite a while before I finally decided I would go pull him around on a sled for a bit. The other children were in school. We went up and down the driveway and then over to the market next door going down a small hill on the way. I almost lost him off the sled. Nathan's favorite candy is cowtails so I bought him one and we walked back to the house. When we come back he went to talk to the ponies while I put the sled away and the next thing I knew, he was feeding the ponies a cowtail !

Stuffy Nose

My poor little guy has a stuffy nose! It is such a bummer for him.

Library Day

Every Tuesday I help our School by being the Librarian for the day. I take my niece, Carissa, along to keep Nathan busy in the room across the hall while I have a class. They come over when no one is in the Library. Carissa is a big help. Nathan looks forward to her coming with us. Phillip comes to the library with the First Graders since he misses his regular day with the K-5.

Small World

As our pastor was welcoming the guests today I heard him say Bro. Hoerner from Kansas. My husband's cousin, Dawnette, is married to a Hoerner from Kansas and while we were out here a few years ago we met him and his father. When Bro. Hoerner turned around I saw it was the same man so Matt went to say hello and find out what the relation was to the people from our church he was with. He was with his daughter who comes every week and her brother is Dawnette's husband. She also said her sister is a Huff, mother to Randy and Rick whom Matt also knows. It was nice to see him and discover the connection. I never would have thought we would see someone from Miltonvale, Kansas at our church. That town is so small we pretty much walked from one end of it to the other.

Whose Idea Was It To Buy Him The Football?

Austin wanted an official Wilson football for Christmas. It has been going with him every day to school but what I didn't know was he and Phillip were practicing in the Family Room downstairs where we have a BIG picture window! Well, you can guess what happened. We had a double pained (?) window and one of the windows is now shattered. Matt called a glass company to come and give us an estimate on repairing the window and the man came but said the whole window needed to be replaced and it would be a special order so he needed to go back to the office to write up the estimate. That was two days ago and we still haven't heard from him. At least the one part isn't damaged and we are not out in the cold.

Beautiful Weather

It is so nice here today as it was yesterday. Matt is enjoying this warm spell so he can get some roofing done. He is unusually busy for this time of year. The last ice storm drove many to place a call to their local roofer. We haven't advertised except by word of mouth for some time now. I think we placed an ad in the merchandiser a little over a year ago but that was only for one day and before that it had been a few years. We have all we can handle on our own and when we have tried to branch out, it only causes more headache and trouble than what it's worth. Matt is very particular with his work and ends up redoing what his employees do. From time to time we hire subcontrators to help catch us up. I think we are at that point right now. I substituted in the middle school yesterday for half a day. Today I am the librarian for my children's school. We are keeping busy.

Vision Troubles

Austin broke his spare glasses the first part of December and we had to get him contacts until we could get the glasses fixed. He had already broken one pair of glasses so now I have 2 that need to get repaired. The contacts have been fine until this morning he complained one of them hurt real bad. When he took it out we found it was torn so he had to go to school with only one contact. His vision is terrible without any corrective lens so he did not have a good day. We were able to get another pair of contacts and hopefully will have a the other glasses repaired this weekend. At this point they are telling us his eyesight has changed since his last visit so we need to order all new glasses anyway. It has only been 6 months since his last visit.

A New Year

I have felt for some time now like I am just flying through life. The kids have grown up so fast and it seems like every time I turn my head they grown by leaps and bounds. Sometimes I look at my pictures and wish I had the energy I used to have when Austin and Katlyn were the ages of Phillip and Nathan. I enjoy my Children and hope to be able to take them on another trip this summer across the USA. Our RV is quickly wearing out. I found out the other day that my PA teaching certificate has not been automatically renewed as usual. I need about 6 credits of continuing education to bring my certificate up to date. It looks like I'll need to go back to school. I've wanted to persue my masters so it looks like I'll have a start on it anyway. I am still able to substitute with my license. I do have some credits from when I worked for Cornwall-Lebanon School District and also when I taught 1st and 2nd Grades at Grandview. I guess I need to go back and have them document the hours elegible for credit and see where I'm at from there. Have a Happy New Year