Thursday, May 29, 2008

Dr. Appointment

Well, my alarm didn't work and I woke suddenly half an hour after I was supposed to be at the doc.

I rescheduled for noon and ventured out. All showered, smelling great and squeaky clean!!! Ready for my lovely pap. I was wondering about getting my first mammo. She did not mention it, so I didn't say anything. I mean come on! Why invite something like that into your life??

So turns out she didn't need to do the pap (YAY! WHAT A GREAT DAY!!) and I am not due for another pap until January 2010 or something?? COOL! I am not going to argue, ya know?? Sheesh!

I have been reading a bit about sleep apnea and wondering if I have it. I am ALWAYS tired and have taken to napping during the day, and after 10 hours of "sleep" at night, I feel like I got none. It is really hindering my doing anything with the kids and the house isn't as clean and organised as it used to be.

She said that the opening to my throat is less than half the size of most people and that often people like that have sleep apnea. I need to go get a sleep study done. So I made an appointment for that and won't get in until mid July!

I normally do not let them weigh me, but decided since it is a physical, that I should. OUCH. Wake up call! I have been wanting to lose, I blabber on here about it enough. I just had NO IDEA how much I weigh. Well...not true. I had a bit of an idea. I was close. I just never stick with Jenny Craig because it is SO EXPENSIVE. I know people who lose on their own without doing that, and I try for a short time and do well and then reward myself with food. I am SO SMART:)

What really hit home was when I asked her to look back to 2002. I knew that was about when I started gaining. It is also when a lot of things changed with my sleeping and I got extremely forgetful and slow in the brain area. Well, I have gained 19 lbs in just 6 years! I remember at that time, being upset cause I was about 25 lbs heavier than I wanted to be. And now there is 19 on top of that!! See what I am talking about when I say "wake up call"??


I am so anxious to get this sleep study done and see if that is part of the trouble. Any excuse for this weight gain:) I have read that sleep apnea can cause weight gain and all kinds of health issues. It would make sense. I always chalked it up to aging and my thyroid nonsense, but who knows.

Tomorrow will be spent doing more shopping for ingredients to try new recipes for Clown and Princess' food allergies. The poor things have been living off this weird bread, cheese, yogurt, fruit and some meat. Princess can't have any processed meats. She also can't have the peanut butter we all eat, so I need to find another for her. Her sandwich choices are limited, so I really want to try some fun new recipes to add variety to their diet.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!!

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Back and Forth

Well, this should be interesting.

I just read Jock's blog and as usual, he has things a little twisted.

He was indeed banished to his room for a week. It happened on Clown's birthday. Monday the 19th. However, he got some things wrong. Poor kid has a habit of hearing what he wants to hear and convincing himself of something even when it did not happen that way. For example he tried to negotiate getting out of his room a day early. When I said I would talk to his Dad, he heard, "Ok, sounds good." or something like that proceeded to argue later and INSIST that I had said he could come out?? THANKFULLY Cryptic had been present and was my witness that I had not said what Jock convinced himself that he heard. I know everyone has a different perspective and you can have ten people watch or experience the same thing and they all have a different story. This is not the same, however.

Anyway, his sister was indeed unloading the dishwasher. He is known for calling all of us names and just generally getting people worked up. The younger two have been taught to ignore it or walk away, if they possibly can. I often can't tell the difference between when he is doing that and when it is all innocent playing. Sometimes Clown comes to me in tears, saying Jock has frustrated him to a point where he is going to seriously beat something or scream. Sometimes he does scream. Sometimes he punches things or knocks them over as he walks past. Sometimes I try and step in before it gets out of hand, only to find out that Clown or Princess is fine with it and all is well.

Even though Clown and Princess are so much younger than Jock, they are quite good at ignoring him when he calls names or tries to get them worked up. I think he is bored and just wants something to do. One of my brothers (also the second born) was (and STILL IS!) the same way.

So he called Princess a freak because she was humming or singing to herself or something. Often, she doesn't dare do anything for fear of some comment. She told me later that she really didn't care and felt like she should be able to relax and do that in her own home. When Jock called her a freak, she called him a freak back. What he did not mention on his blog was that he then decided to go and proceed to punch his seven-year-old sister. Apparently he can dish it out, but he can't take it. He calls her a name, she decides to do the same back and what is her reward?? Becoming a punching bag. This type of thing happens often and Stud and I had finally had enough.

I think I need to move my blog somewhere else. Cryptic found it and has shown Jock. So now Jock will read this and rant and rave on his blog and it will be like high school! He said, she said.


Jock, if you read this; I love you buddy. VERY MUCH. You know that, I tell you so often it makes you mad:) But dude...get your facts straight, eh?? Don't forget important "plot points" in your stories:) Such as...oh...HITTING YOUR PRECIOUS SISTER!!! Like I have told you before, just remember when she was a baby and could do no wrong, in your eyes. She really hasn't changed that much, it is how you guys treat her that makes her all defensive. Seriously. She is a sweet little girl just wanting attention from her amazing big brothers. Let the girl make noises! YA KNOW!?!? Who cares, really. Was it worth it?? Hurting her, scaring her and making her sad?? Being in your room that long?? Didn't think so, especially when you got TWO DAYS ADDED ON!

I missed you and am glad you are out with us again:)

I must get to bed as I have my lovely annual physical bright and early tomorrow morning. *sigh* The joys!

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Gotta love it!

Just wanted to share with you all another reason I love home schooling my babies.

Not only do I get to enjoy time with them and REALLY have the time to connect with them well and have a strong bond, but *I* am the one who is there when they have a "light bulb" moment. That happened today with my wee Clown.

Clown goes in spurts where he just LOVES to do Math. Normally, if I stick to a curriculum, it takes about 45 minutes a day for a lesson. Lately, two hours at a time is not enough! I tell him I need to take a break and he begs for more!

He can go through an entire grade in just a few weeks at this rate. Jock did grades 3-5 in about four months a few years ago. That is why I feel ok not doing any set curriculum for months at a time, because they can "catch up" (whatever that means! Who decides when someone should know a certain thing anyway?? LOL) very quickly. We just play games and do fun activities. Then if we decide to approach a certain concept, it is already familiar to them and we breeze right through. Not only that, but how many nine-year-olds do you know who seriously almost start crying when they are told they need to take a break from math and have a snack?? LOL

So we had some fun doing math this afternoon. I finally convinced him it was snack time and he scarfed down his latest discovery ~ Hummus. He has these rice chips that he can have and he doesn't like them plain. He slathers them in hummus and almost inhales them!

OH! Just now he came in and asked me if I saw the math problems he wrote down. He makes ones up for himself and tests himself:) HOW CUTE!??! I am being summoned to the chalkboard...

Friday, May 23, 2008

Lots of news


I want to post photos from Clown's party and all kinds of other things.
Don't have time right now but did want all of you to at least know that
Clown DOES NOT have Celiac disease! We are SO THANKFUL! He is needing
more iron, though. Apparently he is low on something calledferritin so
we have him on multivitamins with iron. Which should REALLY help with
his constipation from this wheat allergy...*sigh* Yes, that IS indeed
sarcasm. Thankfully, I have spent this past week trying to really get
some foods in the house that he can eat.

I have been busy making
him his own bread, driving from store to store trying to locate foods
that he and Princess can eat. She can't have many breads either because
they put soy oil or soy ANYTHING in them. I am going to be baking a lot
of
home made breads now, which is healthier anyway. We have discovered
many of their favourite crackers, cookies and treats are off limits
either for Clown, Princess or both. So this has been an interesting
week, really cracking down. I allowed Clown to have make the choice if
he wanted cake and pizza at the party and he said yes. His last "hoo rah!" if you will, before we really crack down. He was pleased for the treats, but really suffered, I felt so bad for him:(

I will close now and tell you all a bit about this photo. Clown loves the video game
Golden
Sun
and we had our cake making friend make a cake that he
designed himself. He wanted it to look like a sun and then have the
four elements on the surface. Fire, water, wind and earth. She did a
great job and he was pleased with it. Lemon cake with lemon filling!
YUMMY! She crumbled up a cookie and put candy rocks on the earth
section. I will also show a photo of Cryptic holding it, so it can
really be appreciated.




Ok, can hopefully catch everyone up with new later. Cryptic and I are off for our daily walk. I love it! We can get exercise and I can keep updated with all of his news:)

Saturday, May 17, 2008

She's a hot one...







...outside today. I despise heat and sunshine and all that silliness. Especially since I sit here in pants and a t-shirt. Why am I not wearing shorts you ask??

Yeah. Good question. I have a good answer too.

It is because my two guys who wax my legs seem to be on strike. Jock used to do it to earn money but refuses now because he is sure that "none of my friends wax their mother's nasty hairy legs". He could be right. I don't see the relevance though when it earns him $10 each time he does it. Stud appears to be on strike as well. Apparently since he is trying to earn his full time living as well as start two "side businesses", not to mention playing all the hockey and always playing guitar...he doesn't have much time.

*sigh* So here I sit. Sweltering in this insane heat:( Woe is me! I may resort to my last resort.

Nair.

Anywho, I thought I would throw some shots of Princess ready for her ballet photos this past Monday since I promised you all that I would do that. It has been nutso here this past week with Princess being disagnosed with a soy allergy, being prescribed an epipen, Clown being really sick with his recently diagnosed wheat allergy. He had to have four vials of blood taken this past Thursday to check and see if he has Celiac Disease. We will find out the results early next week. If he has that, we alter his diet for life. If not, we alter it for a few years to see if we can desensitize him to the wheat allergy, assuming that is all it is.




Those are just a few tidbits of what has been going on. Today is Clown's 9th birthday party. It is a laid back affair, so I got time to get on here quickly whilst the young lads are running through the sprinkler.

Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend and I will update more in the coming week. I am sure I will have a lot of time on Monday since that is Clown's actual birthday and we tend to all get a day off on each other's birthday. I still have to post about my AMAZING Mother's Day. I was TOTALLY SPOILED:) It was PERFECT:)

Toodles!

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

No Surprise here!




You Belong in Winter



Quiet, calm, and totally at peace...

You're happy to be at home, wrapped in a blanket, completely snowed in

Whether you're lighting a fire or having a snowball fight, you always feel best in the winter.

COOL!




Your Native American Name Is...



Kakawangwa Yepa




Your name means: Bitter Snow Woman


Oh my!

*sigh* I just read Jock's blog. *AHEM*

Ok...I think more
hand-holding is going to take place. He told me today that he is
regretting telling me about it and doesn't want me to read it. So I
went to read it.

YOWZA! THE LANGUAGE! I need to talk to Stud
about this. I thought it was cute that he listed on his profile movies
and music he is not allowed to see or listen to. I left it alone,
figuring I can let him live in a fantasy world, not much harm done, eh??

But then to see how he speaks on there and stuff. Not to mention the grammar and spelling mistakes! LOL Yeah, so go ahead and comment if you want and maybe talk sense into the young man, eh??

Thanks! Oh also meant to say. He is sad that none of my readers comment on his blog yet:) LOL So g'head if you have time!

I have had a horrid and stressful day so hope to post a real post soon. Need to collapse right now.

Peace out!!

Monday, May 12, 2008

Jock's BLOG!!!

Well, I guess it was inevitable.

Jock now has his own blog. He has been teaching himself how to do many things on the computer. Stud never believes that he can, and Jock proves him wrong EVERY TIME!

The really weird part is that he chose names for us and he just happened to choose the same names for Clown and Princess that I use, not knowing what I call them on here! LOL I wonder what that means???

Photos of Princess in her ballet garb later, lasagna is READY!!!

Friday, May 09, 2008

Cryptic's surgery

Cryptic came through his surgery with flying colours yesterday! He is
as surly as ever, although he was very sweet when he walked in the door
and saw the banners Clown and Princess had spent hours working on for
him. I think it is because he was still drugged:) Seriously. Soon
after, the surly king was back! He is going strong now. *sigh*

If I ask if he has taken his pain pill, cleaned his nose with saline, needs help
changing his "nasal sling" or what have you, I get a sigh and a "Yes,
mother." Or "No, mother. Father can help me."

Seriously. He has taken to calling us that all the time! Pretty funny. The REAL funny
part is that his voice is even deeper than Stud's now so I get a kick
out of this for some reason. This deep voice muttering "Yes, MUTH-ER" in a condescending tone. I learned my lesson! I don't ask anymore, I leave him alone. Or at least try to:)

When
the surgeon got in there to break his septum yesterday (well, it is
cartilage of course, so I don't know if "break" is an accurate term.
Although I guess it is, eh??) he discovered that it was not only
crooked, but pushed all the way over to one side!?!? POOR LAD! NO
WONDER he can't smell anything or hardly breath and keeps getting these
dang infections!ARG!

So he should be on the mend. Stud is
enjoying taking great care of Cryptic. He prefers his Dad doing all the
care this time, which is totally different from the norm, but I am glad
and happy for Stud!!!

He got up with Cryptic at 3 AM to give him his pain meds,
took him to all the appointments and the surgery itself, sat with him
in recovery, the whole deal. Just two years ago when he had his other
surgery, he wanted me with him, holding his hand, hugging him, always
touching him and needed lots of affirmation and me telling him I love
him. He even refused to go into surgery without me and they allowed it.
I was there with the mask and gown and the whole bit, holding his hand
and stroking his face as they put him under. Now, he wants me out of
his face. What a difference two years make!

Watch on Monday for
some stunning photos. Princess goes for her annual dance photos and I
will of course post some. She always looks so pretty with her hair up
and a bit of make-up on.

Have a great weekend! Happy Mother's Day all you Mother's! Jinny, enjoy your first one:)

Sunday, May 04, 2008

Weekend


First I would like to say that I can't get to any of your blogs! I am going NUTS! Something happened to my internet explorer thing and Stud has not fixed it yet. I can't get to barely anything and an shocked that I am able to post this entry. I hope he can fix it soon so that I can catch up! And Dooney, if you are reading this, please e-mail me your e-mail adress or something. I have a long e-mail started to you and have nowhere to send it. Chas, I want to e-mail you soon also and can you let Dooney know I need her e-mail please?? THANKS!





I will sprinkle some photos from yesterday all through this post:)


So yesterday morning we got up and took the kids to see "Iron Man". It
was quite good. The younger three all say it is the best movie they
have ever seen. They say the same thing after every movie they see and tend to
forget that. Cryptic and Stud and I really enjoyed it, but some parts
were far too predictable for me. Still, it was fun.

Then we ventured down to Seattle to the Pacific Science Center. You may recall
I had taken Clown and Princess a few weeks back. The "Strange Matter"
Exhibit was ending soon and it was very important to Clown that his Dad
and brothers see some of the things we saw. Cryptic and Jock whined and
fussed and begged to be taken back home after the movie. At their age,
they think it is more fun to yap with their friends on their cell
phones or be on the computer than spend "Family Time".

Ah well, too bad for them, right?? We actually did fairly well and as far as I
know Jock only got two or three calls while we were gone and one of Cryptic's friends called him as we were driving home. So all in all, I was impressed with that.






Of
course as I predicted, it was Jock and Cryptic who took their time and
tried most displays and wanted to stay. They acted like they wanted to
go, but every time we said it was time to go, we heard, "Hang on. Can I
just do this one more time, please??" or "WAIT! This is SO COOL! Did
you SEE THIS!?!?" When I asked later if they were glad they went, I
just got grunts in return. Teens are SO STRANGE!





Like for
instance just now. Cryptic just got out of the shower and came to ask
me something. He is to put his ointments and creams on his skin at
least once a day. He has a certain one for his face, one for his neck
and one for hisarms, legs, etc. He seldom, if EVER puts anything on his arms and legs and thus, they look and feel like sand paper. His neck is all wrinkled and dry like a turkey. His face is shiny, indicating that he has indeed medicated it. So I asked him why he didn't put anything on his neck.

"Oh here we go!! How did I know THAT question was about to be asked??"

So
I mentioned maybe he could just answer it then. He grunted and walked
away?? WHAT IS THE DEAL!?!? If he KNOWS I am going to ask, why not just
PUT THE STUFF ON HIS NECK AND BE DONE WITH IT!! He has had this disease (his derm actually calls it that, uses the term "disease") his entire life, is the dork EVER going to learn?? ARG!!





There is one funny photo of Jock in Cryptic's face that just shows Classic Jock and Cryptic. Jock poking into others' affairs and Cryptic just quietly dealing with things.

Cryptic hid from the camera quite well, but I was able to snap a few shots of him.

Hope everyone has had a lovely weekend!!!