Productive Day

Well, productive in terms of a meeting I went to today. There was a parenting seminar today where I met some wonderful people. One was the breastfeeding coordinator for the state. I am hoping to be able to do more outreach and education with breastfeeding and hopefully help raise the breastfeeding rates not just in my little area, but eventually across the state. I was looking at the rates on the Indiana Perinatal Network site and it was rather depressing. Being classified as a rural area, I am sure this area is even worse if we were to break it down by county. I did hear some hopeful news when it comes to WIC and I do try to work with WIC as much as I can. WIC has certain guidelines they have to follow and they have their own handouts that they have to go by so there are some restrictions there. Being on the Breastfeeding Coalition of the Wabash Valley will hopefully help as well.

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Charlie helped to sell popcorn today for cub scouts. I wanted to be there, but since I had the meeting, I couldn't go with him. He didn't care though. Husband went with him and he had fun. It's a guy thing and I have a feeling that when it comes to boy scouts, I am going to be pushed to the side since I'm a "girl-yuck." There's a scout meeting Monday night and I won't be at that either since I will be at the Coalition meeting. Once again, Charlie doesn't care. I'm "Mommy" like it is some sort of gross thing. The joys of seven year old boys.

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The girls are a bit jealous of Charlie being in scouts. I told them that they can be in girl scouts in a couple of years. My babies are getting big.

Pizza Night?

That appears to be the trend. I have no clue why, but the children enjoy it so I go with it. It is also nice to not have to wonder what to make for dinner. Which also points out to me that I need to start menu planning again. It is hard to menu plan when I don't even know where we will be in the near future. Here? Home? I don't know.

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I brought more groceries from home and also did grocery shopping. I spent quite a bit at Farmer's Market on produce. I miss the DTFM. The year round FM is not even local produce. It's shipped in half frozen. But the prices are reasonable so I buy. Besides, it is locally owned business. The rest of the stuff we picked up at Aldi's. I picked up several bags of frozen fruit. Mix that with the bananas from FM and you have a wonderful snack.

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Tomorrow is a seminar and the focus is infant/toddler parenting. It is a four part seminar and there are two parts that interest me. One is on breastfeeding and the other is SIDS. I am interested in hearing what is said about breastfeeding beyond feeding a baby. I am also interested in hearing what is said about SIDS, breastfeeding, and co-sleeping. So, that is where I will be tomorrow.

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While I am there, Husband will be taking Charlie to meet with his pack to sell popcorn. While I would love to be there, I know I can't be in two places at the same time and I know Charlie will have fun with his father and his new friends. My baby boy is getting big.

I decided to treat the children today during piano lessons. I did this once before and since they enjoyed it, I decided to do it again. I took the ones not in lesson to a restaurant up the road and when it came time for their lesson, I left, dropped the one off, picked the other up, and repeated that for the third. The waitress leaves the table alone and when she sees me coming in with a different child, she refills my cup and brings the dessert menu. Bethany and Hannah each had chocolate cake and Charlie had a strawberry milkshake. While we can't do this every time, being able to do it once in a while is nice. I enjoy it and so do they.

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Hannah is still not too keen on piano lessons. I am going to do one more month and see how she does. I don't want to force her, but I don't want to drop her without giving her a chance. We'll see how it goes.

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I still need to pick up some supplies for my weather class that will be starting on Monday. I have lots of half formed ideas. We will see where they lead.

Bill Paying Day

Today, we paid bills and I started my period. Ick to both. We also picked up a buck that is in his first rut cycle so hopefully we can get some of the lady goats pregnant. He has the markings of a boer but the ears and legs of a la manche. He was spraying himself so that is a good sign. When we put him in with the rest of the goats, all the ladies were presenting themselves to him. Poor thing was running from them all and they were all going after him.

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We went to Spendal's to pick up our butchered goats and we have four more that need butchering, but they are not going to do anymore until after the first of the year due to deer hunting. So, we will do them ourselves and see how we do. Speaking of butchering, on Friday, we will be butchering several roosters.

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When going to the house today, we noticed the dumpster gone. The contractors are done except for the gutter going back up. Now is clean-up. I did three loads of laundry today, vacuumed and scrubbed our bedroom and bathroom, moved the cabinet back in the closet in our bedroom, and have been sorting through stuff cleaning as I go along. This is going to be a process, but I am thankful that we are getting back into our home soon. I have decided that our SIL has to move in with us. She has made this whole situation that was nightmarish for us and helped us see the blessing in it. I am so thankful for her. I don't know if she realizes how much or if I can ever tell her how much. I just know that I am.

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I am going to go lay down now because my stomach is upset and I have been sneezing, dealing with a sore throat and feeling very exhausted. But, I am NOT getting sick. I don't have time.

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Charlie just showed me his other hole in his mouth. He now has two teeth gone.

Boy Scouts

Charlie had his first scout meeting today.  There is a pack that meets a mile from our house.  It is a new pack and Charlie had a really wonderful time.  I am glad I found this pack and got Charlie involved.  We will be picking up the book and a shirt this week.  I see a long line of patch sewing in my future.  That does remind me.  Does anyone want some popcorn?  

Charlie also joined the homeschoolers today and learned a bit about ancient Japan.  Next week will be India and I will be doing some kind of activity related to the climate in India.  So our Mondays will be from 9:00 to 2:00 at the library going from weather to book club to ancient history to art.  Book club, ancient history, and art are all related to the same topic each week.  (This week was Japan and next week will be India.)  The only "off subject" will be weather but for the art section as everyone breaks into smaller groups, I can have a map of India (or whatever country) and have them color a climate map for that country.  (Tropic, subtropic, arctic, etc.)  Then we will be coming home where he will do the rest of his school work, then dinner, then scouts, then home, shower, and stay up for an hour after the girls go to bed.  All in all, while a busy day, not too bad and it is only once a week.  Plus, scouts is only three weeks per month.  Not every single week.

Charlie also picked out a whole bunch of books from the library and he is looking forward to reading them.  I need to make sure he does his school work before he gets lost in the books.  He is like me in that he will read to the exclusion of everything else.  I need to watch for that.  While on the one hand I am glad that he has a love of reading, I get concerned that he will ignore everything else.

Update of sorts

It looks like the leak has been fixed. We'll know for sure the next time it rains for several days. The carpet in the bedroom is done and it looks wonderful! It is the same color as the stains on the living room carpet.
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Charlie shared his journal with our pastor and is very happy with having one. He also lost a tooth this evening. Unfortunately, it is not the tooth hanging by a tiny piece of skin. But rather a different tooth that was loose. He still won't let me take it out. We don't do the tooth fairy here. Along with finding the whole concept creepy (some stranger comes into your room in the middle of the night while you are sleeping and messes around with your bed while you are in it) it falls under the category of lying to children.

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I have all the homeschool stuff organized and each child has a three ring binder with their stuff in it. SIL cleaned out a bunch of stuff to make more room for our stuff. So I no longer have the stuff crammed into a bag. I have it in a file cabinet drawer and even have my own three ring binder to help me stay organized.

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Tomorrow, we are supposed to pick up a male goat who actually knows how to breed. We are going to borrow him for a week or so then bring him back. The guy doesn't want cash (which is good) and we are giving him a saddle as collateral. We bring the buck back, we get the saddle back.

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The bruise on my tush has gotten considerably bigger, but it no longer hurts to sit. I still have a few sore muscles, but I am feeling better. I took a nap today which helped. I think my body is trying to come down with something, but I am trying to fight it. Hopefully the nap helped. I am going to take some garlic to boost my system.

If it's not one leak, it's another

We go home to look for some paperwork (which we never found) and noticed another leak around the chimney.  GAAAH!  Will this ever end?  Our bedroom is blinding white right now and will probably be that way for a long time since the insurance company only allowed for white and not the color it was before.  (Or any other color for that matter.)

Charlie is doing well with starting to remember his state capitals.  It is slow going, but I am still impressed with his progress.  Now if he would just quit reading over my shoulder.  He-he.  (I love you, Charlie.)  Seriously, he is doing well and I am very pleased.

Tomorrow, we are going to be at the girl scout building at a craft fair there with our soaps.  Hopefully, we will recover some of the money we've lost.  

The children had a blast at gym today.  Charlie and Bethany learned about kick ball and Charlie learned about soccer.  They ran and jumped and kicked and screamed and ran and climbed and had a blast and wore themselves out.  I'm glad we were able to take them today.

Post 250

This is my 250th post since switching to Blogger. (Who knows how many posts I actually have once you factor in Bravenet, then the move to Livejournal, and add in LLL blog and now the Homeschool blog.) On this momentous occasion, I have decided to do absolutely nothing except mention it since I thought it was interesting.

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Charlie is doing some schoolwork right now. The girls are running around with apples in the hands. I showed SIL starfall and had the girls play on it for a while. Charlie loved it when he was younger and the girls love it. Charlie now has a love for reading and can go through books rather quickly. Bethany is almost ready for independent reading. She just need to have more focus which for her is very difficult.

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The children have piano this afternoon and the next couple of weeks will have two lessons to make up for the past two weeks lost due to illness.

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A lot of people are hurting financially right now and I would love to be able to help them, but I can't. It hurts that I can't help them and I basically feel helpless. A couple of them are close to losing their homes and there is nothing I can do to prevent that. We have been so blessed and I want to share that blessing, but I don't know how. All I can do right now is pray and trust that God will take care of them.

Housework is dangerous

I am living proof.  SIL has really high ceilings and by default really high door frames.  I am not short.  I am 5'7" and I have to stand on a chair and still reach way up to get the top of the doorways.  As I am reaching, the chair I am standing on gets knocked off balance and I end up falling.  I now have a nice bruise on my fanny and it hurts to sit.  It also hurts to walk.  Housework is dangerous to your health.

In other news, Charlie seems to be having a hard time grasping the concept of verb.  I'm going to look up a Schoolhouse Rock video to show him.  Maybe that will help make the connection.

Bethany decided she no longer knows how to write the letter "a."  Why, I don't know.  But she is making them look like a "Q."  I am sure there are some Star Trek jokes in there, but I can't think of any right now.

I made crockpot granola yesterday and the children don't want anything but that and the breads I made yesterday.  I made a loaf of regular wheat bread and a braided loaf of herbed bread.  The herbed bread was to go with dinner last night.  I keep reminding them that there is other food in this house besides granola and bread and we will be having sandwiches for lunch.  But they just want bowls of granola and chunks of bread.  

At yesterday's LLL meeting, only one person showed up and it was a friend of mine so we chatted a few minutes and waited.  After 15 minutes, I decided to start packing up and once I got everything back out to the van, I came back in the library and got some books for Charlie.  Some are for fun reading and some are on weather.  We were watching the weather channel and there was something on about tornadoes.  Between that and what happened to our home back in June (in which there is still stuff happening as a result of that) he wants to learn more.  So, I am going to take advantage of this interest and have our science focus right now be on weather.  Once we are back in our home, we will set up a weather station and he can help keep track.

Cafe World

Cafe World on Facebook is annoying and addicting. I need more serving counters but am not allowed to have any more yet. We'll see what happens when I have three counters and four dinners.

In real life, we are going to be at Girl Scouts on Saturday selling our soap. We will be setting up on Saturday. This means making sure I am organized ahead of time. (And making sure we have money for change.) This driving back and forth to take care of the animals everyday plus the going back and forth to Bloomingdale for the failed Covered Bridge has really hurt us financially.

In day-to-day stuff, we spent the morning doing school work and Charlie has started learning how to make change. He has also started on state capitals. All these days of counting out money has led up to learning to make change and spending his time learning the states and their locations moved him onto learning the capitals.

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Bethany is still doing simple math. I think she is ready to add up to 10 rather than the 5 she has been doing. She is also doing well with her reading and is almost ready for her own library card.

Hannah knows her colors very well and is still learning to count past ten. She also needs work on number identification.

Vomitous Service

Or so that was Charlie's take on it today since he decided to vomit during church service.  I stayed home with Hannah since she had been up all night with a fever and diarrhea.  She still has the runs and it is mucousey, watery, and yellow like bile.

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Anyway, Charlie decided to vomit during the first 15 minutes of service.  So, they came home from Indy.  Bethany is full of energy and I am having a hard time keeping up with her while taking care of two sick kids.

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We were supposed to butcher Flora tomorrow, but I have a feeling that is going to be put off until Thursday or Friday.  Tuesday's make-up piano lessons have been post-poned a week.  There is a La Leche League meeting on Tuesday.  

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We should be able to start clean-up at home this week.  Now if the children can stay healthy enough to accomplish it, that would be wonderful.

Covered Bridge Failure

This was the final week-end of Covered Bridge.  It was a complete and total failure.  This was also the last Saturday for DTFM.  We did a little better there.  I am going to be researching upcoming Christmas Festivals and stuff so that we can work through the holidays.  I also have an idea for a display which I described for Husband so hopefully he can make something.

Hannah was throwing up earlier today so I am keeping an eye on her and am not going to allow her to go to church tomorrow.  I am probably going to allow Bethany to go since she seems to be feeling tons better.

We did get news that the contractors will be done with our home in about a week or two.  Not that we will be ready to move back right away.  We have our own clean-up to do.  But, they should be done.  The mud for our bedroom is not drying very well.  So while they are waiting on that, they are working on the deck and the chimney will be last.

I am liking having the separate blog for homeschooling.  It is allowing me to see exactly what we are doing.  It will definitely help in the long run with keeping track and seeing where we need more focus and allow me to build on where the children are excelling.  It will also show me if there are any obvious gaps that need to be addressed.  Granted, this is just the first few days of it.  Let's see how well I follow through.

Sick Children

Hannah was very sick last night.  She had a fever and was not breathing too well.  Although her fever was only 100.5, with her normally low temperature, it was the equivalent of being around 103.  Although the fever broke during the night, she still sounds quite congested.  

Bethany is congested as well and I'm waiting for her to spike a fever.  I've been sneezing and trying to hold off being sick.  I don't have time.  I have Covered Bridge this week-end and have to be in Indianapolis on Sunday.  This stinks.

Charlie has three loose teeth and he is not wanting them pulled.  He feels rather attached to his teeth and thinks that them falling out means something is wrong despite our explanations to the contrary.  "This is normal.  Your arm is not going to fall off.  Your toes are not going to fall off.  Your eyes are not going to fall out of your head.  Just your teeth and new ones grow in."  We went through this last year when he lost two teeth.  But nothing had happened since then and he may have blocked the whole issue.  Who knows.

Charlie has done his school work and so has the girls.  My ride is here so I need to get going.

New Homeschool Blog

Here is the link to the blog I just started.

Good Gravy!

I joined Facebook.  Me.  Why?  I am trying to work with it and am unimpressed.  I'll give it a bit and if I am still unimpressed, I'll just delete the account.  I don't "get it" I guess.

In other news, both girls have a nasty cold.  Yet, that has not slowed them down in the least.  Hannah has a fever to go with the cold.  I cancelled lessons for today and make-up lessons will be the next two Tuesdays.  (Last week was cancelled due to the L and MK being sick.)

Charlie has loose teeth and one of them looks like it will come out today.  Unfortunately, Charlie is not wanting any of his teeth gone.  This is rather traumatizing to him.

I am thinking about starting another blog just for homeschooling to help me keep track of what the children are doing, what they've done, etc.  I try to do that here a little bit, but this blog is more of a personal focus/organize my thoughts/day-to-day blog.  I am needing something separate.  So I will get that set up, then link the two.

Failure

That is what Covered Bridge turned into.  A complete and utter failure.  We ended up splitting the inventory and packing it in.  We are leaving half there and brought half with us.  We will do both DTFM and Covered Bridge this week-end.  Husband will be at DTFM and I will be at Covered Bridge.  I will go back to M's on Friday morning and stay until Saturday night.  At that point, I will pack up and come home.  I am very disappointed in how it turned out.  Next year, we will get a vendor spot.  They are expensive, but might be worth it with an increase in sales that we would get having it.  I am also thinking of a whole new display set up.  I have an idea in my head and just need to get it out and show Husband and see what he can do with it.

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The construction at the house is coming along.  The mold is gone (I think) but there is still major construction mess.  There is no way we can go home yet until they are done and out of there.  I do need to spend some time there and do some major cleaning before we move back in.  I want it to be safe for the children and not have to worry like I had been since all this started back in June.

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Charlie is coming along very well with his fifty states.  SIL has been working with him while I have been gone and Husband has been in and out.  He has memorized through half of M.  (There are a lot of M states.)  We are going to have him do more reading out loud.  He does well with it, but I want to see more.  

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I am going to work with Bethany out of Teach Your Child To Read the rest of this week.  She knows her letters and most of the sounds, so this should be fun and easy for her.  The book is painfully slow, but it works especially when used in conjunction with "Ready to read" type books.

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I am trying to not feel like I am wasting my time with the soap business and just remind myself that this past week has been a slump.  Pioneer Days was a success.  DTFM has been a success.  But Covered Bridge was not and it feels discouraging.  I just got my hopes up too high.  

First, we started a day late due to weather.  Then yesterday, we had very little business.  I have sold a total of two bars and one bottle of soap.  It's 2:30 and there is nothing.  The bars were sold yesterday and the bottle was sold today.  

La Leche League made over $20.00 yesterday.  Today, we've made $5.00.

Tomorrow, Husband is going to drive around with the truck to try and get some soap sold.  This is depressing and frustrating.  I was hoping we would do a whole lot better.  People have slowed as they went by.  The Friend's Church across the street has had a bit of traffic since they are listed on the Covered Bridge Festival route.  But there has been nothing of any significance.  From what we've been told, a lot of vendors are complaining about lack of business.  Next year, we are setting up at home.  We'd probably do just as well there as we are here.

On the flip side, I have been enjoying the company.  I got introduced to Qdoba's last night.  Oh my goodness!  I have a new favorite Mexican place!  It is delicious, filling, affordable, and yummy!  I am also having fun playing with a baby, hanging out with a dear friend, and last night with no children, I slept in until 8:45 this morning.  WOW!

Rain, rain, and more rain

Everything is soaked.  We did not get set up last night or today due to the rain.  Our backyard is underwater.  M's yard is squishy.  The tents are not waterproof.  The tables are wet.  Signs still need to go up.  We did get up a couple of wooden signs that got made last night and placed them out on 41.  We still need to go through La Leche League stuff.  Instead of starting sales today, we will be starting tomorrow. 

SIL called Bethany this morning.  She missed all the noise.  It made Bethany's morning.  Bethany and Hannah have been having a blast playing with the girls here and carrying around the baby and the cat.  Neither of which they are supposed to be doing, but that doesn't deter them from doing it.

As for me, I am enjoying having another adult around.  I miss my husband.  It is strange not having him in bed with me at night.  But with a child on either side of me, there wouldn't be room for him anyway.  I have been having tachycardia issues these past couple of days.  Maybe it's just heartache with not being with my husband.

 

Covered Bridge

Tomorrow, we head out to Bloomingdale to start setting up for covered bridge.  There will be three things going on at M's house.  There will be a La Leche League fundraiser yardsale, a raffle for a Pump-In-Style breast pump to raise money for The Breastfeeding Coalition of the Wabash Valley, and my soaps.  So, as you can see, some organization will be necessary to make sure the ten days goes smoothly.  Since there will be goats there, care of the goats and making sure they are not over-stimulated by people while still attracting people is a must.  It is one thing to have the goats out and away from the rest of the herd for a few hours, but this is going to be ten days.  They will be fine in that they are not going to be in any danger.  We will just have to make sure that they have "away from tons of strangers" time when they need it.  We will be bringing the portable fence with us that we made before Pioneer Days.

It is going to feel strange not being with my husband for most of the ten days.  He will be coming up Saturday after Farmer's Market and staying through Sunday (no church this Sunday) but after that, I won't see him again for a week.  I won't be seeing Charlie either.  I'll have the girls with my, but my "guys" won't be with me.  It will definitely be different.

Christmas is coming up and usually, I am done with my shopping by now, but this year, I have not even started.  I have no clue where to start.  SIL will be a no-brainer.  A gift donation in her name to her favorite charity.  Well, two.  One from us to one charity and one from the children to another.  The children are another story.  I have some ideas for Charlie, but what I would like to get for him can not be gotten with the girls still so young.  They still put things in their mouths.  Bethany has literally eaten not just the eraser off of pencils, but the metal part as well.

We've been discussing Boy Scouts for Charlie.  I am thinking it is time to enroll him.  He would be a Cub Scout.  I think it will be good for him.  As long as I don't have to sell any popcorn.  The scouts do have a "law" I can get behind.  A Scout is:  Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean, and Reverent.

Not one who goes by blind obedience and don't teach my children blind obedience, I looked at what was said about being obedient with the scouts and I can even support that.  "A Scout is Obedient.  A Scout follows the rules of his family, school, and troop. He obeys the laws of his community and country. If he thinks these rules and laws are unfair, he tries to have them changed in an orderly manner rather than disobeying them."  That right there supports the concept that we live by and try to teach our children.  Be obedient.  If you don't like the rules, work to change them.  But don't just outright disobey them.  Anyway, this is something we are still talking about.  A part of me is concerned about this going the way of 4-H when we tried to have Charlie in that.  It was very cliquish and we were basically shunned.  We were outsiders and not very welcome.  I'd still have Charlie in mini 4-H if it weren't for that.  We will see.

I am doing a lot of mindless rambling here with no real focus.

We went to the house early today because we got a call about the goats having gotten loose.  There was a predator attack during the night which caused the goats to break through the fence where two panels joined together.  (We lost a few chickens in this attack.)  So we get there and the workers were on the roof and the goats were all in the front yard.  Lovely.  We managed to get them in without too much effort, but it was still annoying.  The we found out when we went back later that they had to free some of the goats that were getting caught in the fence.  This is why we can't be living away from home.

We did find out that the mold problem will be done by the beginning of next week.  That means that we can be in the house for more than a few minutes at a time.  Technically, we'd be able to move back in, but it is still not safe for the children with all the construction going on.  But Covered Bridge will be going on so it will be a non-issue.  After Covered Bridge, I will be spending the days at home cleaning up after the construction workers, cleaning carpets and furniture to make sure there is no mold, doing laundry, cleaning up insulation, etc so that the children can come home to a safe, clean house.  Hopefully by then, everything will be done, the construction workers will have packed up and left, and we will have our home back.

Well, I need to finish filling soap bottles and get to bed here soon.  

Upcoming Week

Yes, we are still alive and living with my SIL.  I am so thankful to her for everything she is doing for us.  I know we have disrupted her life, but I also know she is enjoying (for now) the extra time with the children.  

This past week-end, we were at Pioneer Days selling our soap.  Yesterday, my toes hurt it was so cold.  Today, we went after church and it was much nicer out.  As a result, more people were out today.  We also got a new (old, used) canopy from one of the vendors.  It is old, large, and has holes in it.  But with some patching, it will be nice shade for the goats when we take them to these different places.  Plus, it is big enough for a table and chairs for the children.  And, it has curtains.  Not bad for free.

Tomorrow, we are going to a butterfly exhibit with the children over at Rose Hulman.  I hope they enjoy it.  It is going to be our science focus right now.  We've hatched moths.  (Woolly Bear caterpillars.)  But, we forgot to let them go, so their end is pretty obvious.  Tomorrow night is also the Breastfeeding Coalition meeting.

Tuesday, I am going to be pouring soaps and preparing for Covered Bridge and living in Bloomingdale for a week.

Wednesday will be more of Tuesday plus church Wednesday night.

Thursday is piano lessons and getting everything out to Bloomingdale.  Then, I will be there for the week.  I'll have the girls with me.

The Zoloft is working.  Although everything is still frustrating, I am not feeling the sense of panic, dread, and defeat I was feeling before.  I am still having some depression though.  But, that is to be expected with everything going on.  I feel like I am losing contact with my friends.  I need to change that.  After Covered Bridge.  I have a lot to do to get ready.  I am not going to be able to make any bar soaps in time, but I do have lots of liquid to melt down and make.