Wednesday, August 29, 2007

It's still running

I called my dad yesterday when the washer died. I had a load of laundry in there and the drum was full of water and detergent and fabric softener and what-have-you. I asked if I could bring over the load of laundry after I figured out how to drain the thing and wash that load in his washing machine. Of course he said yes (he lives three blocks from us) and about 10 minutes later he pulled up in the driveway. I was scooping water out of the machine with a cup (the bucket was too big to fit) and was also in the middle of work. He took over the scooping and told me to go type and he would take care of it. Caleb helped with the scooping. My dad is a patient man.

After he got it drained he fiddled around with it for a while and got it running again! Yay Dad! I have no idea what he did to it or how long it will run, but it runs. That's all I care about right now. Five people can generate a surprising amount of laundry.

I got a list of approved orthodontia providers from the insurance company. Neither of the orthodontists that our dentist recommended are on there, but the orthodontist that Sarah's friend Lara sees is. She likes him a lot, and his office is about five minutes from our house, so I'm calling this morning to make Sarah an appointment. The money aspect still freaks me out a little, but Brent said we will use his cost of living bonus this year to cover at least part of it. We were going to use the money to buy a second car, but Sarah's teeth are more important. I also found out that he, for some God inspired reason, upgraded our dental insurance this year (thank you Lord) so we will end up with approximately $1000 covered by insurance. We have around $1000 cash to put down, and then with his cost of living bonus next month we should be in relatively good shape. God provides. God provides. God provides.

I think I'm being tested. I hope I pass.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

One More Thing?

I think our washing machine just died.

Perfect.

Kid Needs Braces, Dogs Have Fleas

Sarah is at the dentist right now. She was so nervous before she left, even though I told her they're not going to do anything to her today. Of course one day notice wasn't enough for either Brent or I to get off of work to take her, but luckily my dad was more than willing. I don't know what I'd do without him, honestly. I hope whatever they find out, that she is still able to go to the University of Michigan opener this Saturday with Brent. She will be crushed if she has to miss it.

I know the dentist is going to tell me that Sarah needs braces. Our dental coverage is crap so we haven't been able to afford to do it thus far. I think we are going to have to bite the bullet and trust God to provide the money. I have been awake since 2:30 a.m. worrying about this whole tooth situation. Luckily Emma and Caleb have my teeth and won't require braces. Sarah was cursed with Brent's side of the family's genes and their small palates and crooked teeth. Poor kid.

I bought some new tea from Yogi Teas, lemon ginger. Wow, it is so good. I love tea and I always add lots of lemon, so this is right up my alley. It's supposed to be good for digestive health too, which I can always use.

Too much coffee and soda lately. Gotta drink more water. Brent bought me more watermelon (bless him) and some organic avocados that I could just devour all at once if I had a little less self-control. Sprinkled with a little sea salt and squirted with lime juice, so yum.

Oh, and the dogs have fleas. Yay. I ordered Advantix through 1-800-PetMeds and got them treated. Beau was treated first and he is fine. The other two dogs' meds came today and I just put it on them so hopefully we can get the fleas killed off quickly. Why are those teeny little vials of medicine so darned expensive?!! It was $50+ a piece for that stuff, but I guess if it keeps my house from becoming infested it's worth it.

Update: Sarah is back from the dentist and her problem is NOT her wisdom teeth. The wisdom teeth are fine and are coming in with no problems. The pain is from the misalignment of her teeth and inappropriate bite. It's so far off that it's causing her teeth to loosen and hurt. Yikes. Brent is going to find out who is on our approved list of providers and then we will make an appointment for her ASAP. We need to start praying for financial provision now. God has always made a way and I don't expect He will start letting us down now.

Monday, August 27, 2007

Monday Monday

The kids are starting school today. It will be good for them to get back into the routine of school work. I'm sad that summer is over, though. I hate cold weather so much and the thought of snow...I don't even want to consider it.

Poor Sarah was up most of last night with tooth pain. Her wisdom teeth are coming in and pushing her other teeth out of place, I think. Brent and I both have our wisdom teeth intact (except he did have one pulled due to impaction) so it didn't occur to me when her wisdom teeth started coming in that it might be a problem for her. Poor thing. The dentist can't get her in until next Friday, so hopefully she won't suffer too much until then.

Brent and Emma are having a Father Daughter Day today. He is taking her out to lunch and then to the Art Museum for the afternoon. Saturday Sarah is supposed to go with him and his brother and our nephews to the University of Michigan for the first game of the season. Hopefully her teeth will cooperate. If you don't mind praying for her to not be in a lot of pain while she waits to see the dentist I know she would appreciate it.

It's hard to juggle homeschooling and working.

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Quiet Sunday

Quiet day today. Not much to say. We woke up late and watched some shows on Food Network. I love Nigella Lawson, but the episode they showed this morning I have already seen five or six times. Giada's menu was too frou-frou for me so I didn't watch that one either.

I did see something I wanted to make on FN this morning. That new show, Simply Delicioso, which I don't like at all so far, the host made arroz con pollo this morning that looked SO GOOD. I need to go to FN.com and dig up that recipe. And churros! She made churros using puff pastry, which I fully intend to replicate at some point this week.

We went to the health food store this afternoon. I bought some organic avocados, some organic almond butter, and some other stuff I can't remember right now. In the bakery they had these things called Superbars and they looked like a no-bake cookie in brownie form. We bought two of those and some free-trade coffee to go. You know how you're expecting something to taste a certain way and then when you eat it, it doesn't taste at all like you expected? That's how those bar/brownie things were. They looked really chocolaty and they have oats in them...hence the no-bake reference. They don't taste like those cookies at all, but they're still really good. They taste raisin-like, and...healthy I guess, not at all chocolaty. It's like they're sweetened with fruit juice or something (which they probably are). They're also full of sesame seeds and (surprise) raisins. I'm glad we only bought two because I'm pretty sure I could eat an entire batch by myself. I must never ask for the recipe.

After that we went to the Italian market. We bought an Asiago ciabatta and some deli stuff. I bought a bag of Baci and a Perugina chocolate bar with almonds. The Baci are my favorite.

So I just finished up some work that was left from Friday, Brent cut our grass, and now he's over cutting my dad's grass. Caleb is watching a movie, Emma is outside reading, Sarah is watching TV in her room, and I'm about to go get things organized for the start of our new school year tomorrow. Wow, summer sure went by fast.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

I Love Summer!

The girls and I canned eight quarts of pickles last night, four quarts of garlic dill pickles, and four quarts of volcano pickles (Brent's favorite). We need to go back to the farmer's market this weekend for another peck of pickling cucumbers, and hopefully we can get to the orchard for peaches too. My kids love home canned peaches.

I absolutely love the farmer's market and all of the homegrown fruit and veg we can buy. I polished off an entire watermelon all by myself in the span of two or three days last week. I think Caleb might have eaten a slice or two but the rest was all me. I'm glad fruit is good for me.

Today I had a banana and a kiwi, later I had some fresh pineapple and blueberries, and I just now had more watermelon. I think that given the chance I could live on fruit (with the occasional tomato and avocado thrown in).

My friend Jude sent me some English tea and it's really good. I love hot tea with lemon.

I need to figure out what I'm making for dinner and get cracking.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Curriculum for the Coming Year So Far


Sarah
English - Notgrass
History - Notgrass
Bible - Notgrass
Math - Singapore
Science - Apologia Anatomy
French - Rosetta Stone

Emma
English - Learning Language Arts Through Literature
History - Story of the World Vol.2
Bible -
Math - Singapore
Science - Exploring God's Creation: Zoology, Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day

Caleb
English - LLATL
History - Story of the World Vol.2
Bible -
Math - Singapore
Science - Exploring God's Creation: Zoology
Handwriting - Handwriting Without Tears

I only need to get something each for History and Bible for Emma and Caleb (leaning towards Rod & Staff), and I think I will be set.

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Decisions, Decisions

The most difficult decision facing me every year at this time is "What materials should I buy for the kids to use for school this year?" It's such an anxiety ridden subject for me. I lay awake nights trying to determine who needs what and which approach will best fit with each child's learning style. I also want things that the kids can do mostly self-directed. The whole idea behind homeschooling for us is to teach them to self-teach, to ignite a love of learning and a desire to know more about subjects that interest them.

Sarah loves history and reading and I think I've found something perfect for her: http://www.notgrass.com/index.php. It looks like something she will really like and that she can do mostly independently, and it will actually give her a full credit each in History, Bible, and English. Now I just need to find an appropriate Biology course for her, order her math books from Singapore, and that will be that as far as requirements go. She can round out the rest with subjects of her choosing.

I think I am going with a majority of Rod & Staff for Emma and Caleb this year, along with Singapore math. I might have to find something more "workbookish" for Emma. She loves workbooks and worksheets. Maybe LLATL, I don't know. I hate spending a bunch of money on stuff they end up not liking, but such is the life of a homeschooler, and you know there's always Ebay.